The Environmental Quality Advisory Board and the City of Oak Ridge are sponsoring the 30th Annual Arbor Day Observance at 10 a.m. Friday, March 6, at Woodland Elementary School.
This ceremony also marks the 27th year that the City of Oak Ridge has been recognized as a Tree City USA. It will also mark the first year that the city will receive the Tree Line USA designation.
Tree City USA, a National Arbor Day Foundation program, recognizes U.S. towns and cities that develop comprehensive urban forestry programs. Tree Line USA is also a National Arbor Day Foundation program that recognizes utility providers who adopt best practices in utility line arboriculture. At the ceremony, district foresters with the Department of Forestry will present the Tree City award and flag to city representative Mayor Warren Gooch and Steve Kenworthy, chairman of the Environmental Quality Advisory Board.
The Arbor Day ceremony will include the planting of a dogwood donated by the City of Oak Ridge. Kevin Hoyt, director of the University of Tennessee Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center will present the tree to Nancy West, principal of Woodland Elementary School.
To become a Tree City USA, a community must meet four standards: a legally constituted tree board; a community tree ordinance; a comprehensive community forestry program supported by a minimum of $2 per capita; and an Arbor Day proclamation and public tree planting ceremony. To receive the Tree Line USA designation, a utility must meet five core standards: quality tree care, annual worker training, tree planting and public education, a tree-based energy conservation program, and an Arbor Day celebration. Communities must reapply for the Tree City USA and Tee Line USA designations annually.
Previous Arbor Day observances have been held at the Oak Ridge Civic Center, the Senior Citizens Center, the UT Arboretum, Cedar Hill Neighborhood Park, and at Glenwood, Woodland, Linden, Willow Brook, and St. Mary’s Elementary Schools.
For more information, contact Jon Hetrick of the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department at (865) 425-3450, or visit the city’s website at www.oakridgetn.gov.
Woodland Elementary School is at 168 Manhattan Avenue.
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