Kicking off a campaign to replace trees lost to last fall’s tropical storm Irene and indiscriminate cutting, volunteers planted 500 trees in fields, wetlands and along streambanks on Assembly Point on April 27.

The effort was the first of a series of similar events sponsored throughout the Adirondacks by the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Lake Champlain Basin Trees for Tributaries program.

The native trees and shrubs were grown at the DEC’s State Tree Nursery in Saratoga Springs.

According to the DEC, the Trees for Tributaries program was established to protect stream corridors within the Lake Champlain basin and is a partnership with U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

“In the wake of Tropical Storms Irene and Lee, homeowners and communities across the state witnessed the devastation that swollen rivers and streams can pose to people and property,” said DEC Commissioner Joe Martens. “Our Trees for Tributaries program provides trees and shrubs free to municipalities and private landowners to restore damaged banks of streams, tributaries and rivers damaged by the tropical storms and subsequent flooding.”

Commented Leilani Crafts Ulrich, the chairman of the Adirondack Park Agency, “The Adirondack community continues to work together to overcome the devastation of last summer’s tropical storms. Replanting vegetation will help stabilize shorelines and diminish the impacts of flood events. I applaud the hard work and dedication of all who are so generously committing their time to plant our future.”

The effort on Assembly Point was organized by the the Assembly Point Water Quality Awareness Committee, which was established earlier this year.

“The group feels that they can be the feet on the ground and the eyes within the neighborhood, with the collective goal to identify negative impacts to Lake George and its water quality, and help promote positive initiatives to reduce those impacts,” said Kathy Bozony, the Lake George Waterkeeper program’s Natural Resource Specialist,

A similar committee has been proposed for Cleverdale and Rockhurst, Bozony said.

“A water quality awareness committee within a small community can inspire and educate by personally taking action to become better stewards of the lake, and can work closely with neighbors to do the same,” said Bozony.