Athens, Ga. – For the fourth year in a row, the University of Georgia has received Tree Campus USA recognition for it promotion of a healthy campus tree management program in 2013 from the Arbor Day Foundation.
About 10,000 trees adorn the campus, according to Dexter Adams, director of the UGA Grounds Department. In 2013, the department planted 75 trees through a partnership with the Select Sustainable Tree Trust, along with 45 others planted on Arbor Day and about another 25 during the year, according to Adams.
Adams said his department, which conducts an ongoing campus tree-mapping project, will plant about 75 more trees this year provided by the tree trust.
The Arbor Day Foundation uses five criteria for its recognition: a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and student-learning project.
Tree Campus USA, a national program created in 2008, honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals. The Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota have helped campuses throughout the country plant hundreds of thousands of trees.
For more information on the Tree Campus USA program, see arborday.org/TreeCampusUSA.
The main trees on UGA’s campus are mapped for easy identification with the help of the UGA Campus Arboretum Walking Tour of Trees. The campus walking maps were designed by the horticulture department in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. For more information, see hort.uga.edu/research/arboretum/.
