by Brianna Crandall — March 7, 2011—More and more colleges and universities across the United States are being recognized for taking care of one of the most valuable resources on campus–trees, says the Arbor Day Foundation. On March 2, the Foundation announced that the number of schools that have been named a Tree Campus USA college or university has more than tripled since the program began in 2008.
Tree Campus USA, supported by a grant from Toyota, is modeled after the Arbor Day Foundation’s successful Tree City USA program. The aim of Tree Campus USA is to honor colleges and universities that use sustainable practices and engage students in tree-planting and conservation initiatives.
This year, 114 U.S. colleges and universities earned the Tree Campus USA status, 40 more than were honored a year ago. There were 29 schools in the inaugural class of Tree Campus USA in 2008.
A complete list of Tree Campus USA colleges and universities is available on the Web site.
“As Tree Campus USA continues to grow, communities all over the country will benefit from vibrant, healthy urban forests on college campuses,” said John Rosenow, chief executive and founder of the Arbor Day Foundation. “The work being done to plant, protect and care for the trees on these campuses will have a lasting effect on their cities and towns for years and years. Trees are a valuable resource, and planted and managed properly can clean our air, help us reduce energy usage and add breath-taking beauty to some of the most beautiful places in our communities.”
To earn Tree Campus USA recognition, schools must meet five standards of tree care and community engagement: establish a campus tree advisory committee, which must include a representative from the student body, faculty, FM staff, and the community; evidence of a campus tree-care plan; verification of dedicated annual expenditures on the campus tree-care plan; involvement in an Arbor Day observance; and a service-learning project aimed at engaging the student body in sustainable efforts.
The Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota launched the Tree Campus USA program in the fall of 2008 by planting nearly 1,000 trees at nine college campuses throughout the nation. Since then, Arbor Day and Toyota have held additional tree planting events at designated schools each fall and spring for a total of 29 of events to date.
