Sweet Home is marking a major milestone this year with the national Tree City USA program of the Arbor Day Foundation.
The Tree City USA program began 46 years ago in 1976. To qualify, a community must:
— Maintain a tree board or department;
— Have a tree ordinance;
— Spend at least $2 per person on its urban forest; and
— Celebrate Arbor Day.
Sixty-nine Oregon towns and cities are qualified as a Tree City USA, including the return of Reedsport to the program. Sweet Home celebrating its 35th year of achieving Tree City USA status. Lebanon has reached 20 years.
Several other cities are also marking milestone anniversaries in the program. Oregon’s second longest Tree City USA – Portland – is celebrating 45 years of holding that status. Eagle Point is celebrating 30 years in the program and McMinnville 25 years. Monmouth has reached 20 years, Gervais and Sisters 15, with Newport, Independence and Oregon City arriving at the 10-year milestone.
The Oregon Department of Forestry administers the Tree City USA program in Oregon on behalf of the Arbor Day Foundation. ODF Urban and Community Forestry Assistance Program Manager Kristin Ramstad is gratified to see the engagement in Oregon communities around urban trees.
“The COVID-19 pandemic continued to be very disruptive last year, forcing the cancellation of many in-person events. Despite that, many Oregon cities and towns still accomplished a lot in terms of improving tree care even as they worked to recover from ice storms and a record-shattering heatwave. And cities became very creative in how they engage with the public while keeping social distance,” said Ramstad.
Find more information about the awards program at http://www.arborday.org/programs/treecityusa.