A local environmental nonprofit is looking for 100 volunteers to collect acorns at Arlington National Cemetery this weekend.
The goal of the collection event, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, is anything but nutty. It’s part of the Potomac Conservancy’s Tomorrow’s Trees program, which recruits volunteers to support reforestation projects throughout the D.C. area.
“Volunteers from all over the Potomac River region gather tree seeds from their communities and gift them to state nursery farms, where they are nurtured and transplanted for use in reforestation projects,” a press release says.
Between 2018 and 2023, the D.C. area lost some 22,000 acres of trees, according to estimates from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. As about 49.6% of the area remains under trees, the agency has adopted a goal of maintaining a minimum canopy of at least 50% throughout the D.C. area.
Arlington National Cemetery has been collaborating with the Potomac Conservancy Growing Native program since 2007, letting volunteers gather acorns, hickory nuts and other seeds.
Annually, volunteers collect between 200 and 400 pounds of seeds from Arlington National Cemetery’s native trees and shrubs. They’ve gathered over 3,000 pounds since the partnership with the Potomac Conservancy began in 2007.
