A crew from Shenandoah Habitats, working in the United States under the H-2A visa program, routinely plant thousands of trees in a day. Their work has been described as "essential" to the Chesapeake watershed restoration effort. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
Erly Martinez, originally from Guatemala, has been working in the United States under the seasonal H-2A visa program for 14 years. "Most of the group has come back every year since 2010," Martinez said. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
Just before 9 a.m., Martinez walks among hundreds of trees his crew had already planted on 0.75 acres that morning at Monocacy Natural Resource Management Area in Dickerson, Md. The crew would plant trees at two more sites in Frederick County on the same day. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
Doni Villatoro has spent nine years working with the same crew as Martinez, employed by Shenandoah Habitats. "Planting the trees is my favorite part of the job, but for me everything is good,” Villatoro said. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
The crew carries stakes onto a 3.2-acre job site, straddling a stream on a dairy farm in Jefferson, Md. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
Members of the crew wade through a swollen stretch of Catoctin Creek to reach a planting site in Jefferson, Md. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
Ezer Gonzalez carries dozens of bare-root tree seedlings, spending less than a minute to plant each tree. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)The crew keeps its shovels and other tools sharp. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
Alesandro Ribas serves himself chicken stew prepared by members of the crew in mid-afternoon, after planting hundreds of trees at three different sites. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
Within hours, the crew had completed planting over 900 trees on a 3.2-acre parcel straddling a small stream flowing into Catoctin Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River, in Jefferson, Md. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)Martinez pounds a stake to support a young tree, sheltered within a plastic tree tube. "When we finish these projects, we return to our countries for 4 or 5 months," Martinez said. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
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