OKLAHOMA CITY—Representatives of the city of Guthrie and the Guthrie Tree Board received special recognition for tree care in Oklahoma City during the statewide Arbor Day celebration. Guthrie has participated in the Tree City USA program for 17 years.
(left-Right) Roberta Burns, Maxine Pruitt, Senator A.J. Griffin and Jarod Cassada represented Guthrie as they planted an Arbor Day tree on the Governor’s Mansion lawn. Assisting them in the ceremony were Ed Macie, Regional Urban Forestry Program Manager with the USDA Forest Service in Atlanta, GA, and Jared Carlson, Development Manager, Related-Business Ventures with the Arbor Day Foundation in Nebraska City, NE.
Guthrie is among 21 cities, two Air Force bases and five public utilities that have been designated as a Tree City USA community or Tree Line USA utility in Oklahoma this year. In addition, seven college and university campuses have attained Tree Campus USA status.
To earn Tree City USA status from the Arbor Day Foundation, a city must establish a tree board, create a tree ordinance, spend at least $2 per capita annually on a community forestry program and celebrate Arbor Day with an official proclamation and city-wide observance.
The city of Guthrie planted and maintained trees and distributed educational material to receive Tree City recognition. The city also earned a Growth Award for providing for and coordinating tree board members to attend continuing education events.
Featured speakers at the event were Urban Forestry Coordinator Mark Bays with Oklahoma
Forestry Services, Ed Macie, Regional Urban Forestry Program Manager with the USDA Forest Service in Atlanta, GA, and Jared Carlson, Development Manager, Related-Business Ventures with the Arbor Day Foundation in Nebraska City, NE. Macie urged Oklahoma’s communities to take better care of hard-working urban trees to reap environmental benefits. Carlson explained the energy-savings potential of properly selected trees.
“I could not imagine living in a world without trees,” said Urban Forestry Coordinator Mark Bays. “It’s inspirational to see so many Oklahomans working together to insure this valuable resource will always be with us.”
Oklahoma Forestry Services, a division of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and
Forestry coordinates the Tree City USA, Tree Line USA and Tree Campus USA programs in
Oklahoma. It co-sponsors the annual celebration at the state capital with assistance from the Oklahoma Urban and Community Forestry Council, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to public education about the benefits of trees.
For more information about how your community or campus can get involved, contact Mark Bays at 405-522-6150 or [email protected].
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