April 24, 2020
Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Celebrates 30th Tree City USA Award
Fort Wayne, Ind. – The National Arbor Day Foundation has awarded the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department with its 30th consecutive Tree City USA designation, and the department culminated a week-long celebration by planting trees in Brewer Park.
The Arbor Day Foundation recognized the City of Fort Wayne’s commitment to its urban canopy by naming Fort Wayne a Tree City for the 30th year in a row. The city also received the Growth Award for the 15th consecutive year, which highlights innovative programs and projects as well as an increased commitment of resources for urban forestry.
The purpose of the Tree City USA program is to recognize communities across the country that are taking steps toward effective management of their public trees. Healthy trees “advertise” a healthy community, and the Tree City USA program helps a community “advertise” that it values improving its trees on behalf of its residents.
In addition to the planting, the department has also distributed hundreds of tree seedlings to citizens throughout the week. Dozens of residents visited area parks for safe, contactless, drive-thru pickups for the seedlings. Plus, Parks and Recreation social media featured several informative posts about the value of trees in our community.
“In previous years, we have been able to celebrate Arbor Day by planting trees with children from local schools, and unfortunately that couldn’t happen this year,” Parks and Recreation Department Director Steve McDaniel said. “However, we still wanted to recognize the value and importance of Arbor Day to our department and to our city. Trees provide tremendous benefit to a thriving, growing community, so please join me and the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department in celebrating Arbor Day.”
For more information about Fort Wayne urban forestry efforts, visit fortwayneparks.org/street-trees.
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