Tree Planting Set For West Haven Arbor Day Event June 23

West Haven CT

16 June, 2022

11:27 AM

Description

Written by Michael P. Walsh WEST HAVEN, CT — City officials and volunteer "tree tenders" will join Mayor Nancy R. Rossi to dedicate the planting of an American white oak at Painter Park's main entrance during West Haven's Arbor Day observance at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 23. The public event is the first of many tree plantings planned for parts of the city under the auspices of Tree Warden Leo Kelly and his tree tenders. The group of volunteers is tasked with helping the city implement a $10,000 grant from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to plant and maintain trees in urban areas of West Haven. Kelly said many city trees have been lost because of storms and utility projects and have not been replaced or replenished. The tree tender initiative hopes to change that, he said. Rossi will mark the annual tree-planting ceremony at the park's Kelsey Avenue entrance by reading a mayoral proclamation declaring Arbor Day in West Haven. The white oak was recommended by Kelly and paid for by the city. The ceremony will also recognize West Haven's recent designation as a Tree City USA community for its commitment to urban forestry. For a sixth time, the city earned the Arbor Day Foundation's Tree City distinction by meeting the program's four requirements: forming a tree board or department, creating a tree care ordinance, having an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita, and holding an Arbor Day observance. The Tree City program, established in 1976, is sponsored by the Lincoln, Nebraska-based foundation in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters. Rossi has been working with Kelly and the Tree Commission to improve West Haven's tree inventory process and implement a sustainable and safe treescape. Arbor Day was founded in 1872 by Julius Sterling Morton in Nebraska City, Nebraska. By the 1920s, each state had enacted public laws mandating an Arbor Day observance. The customary observance is to plant a tree. On the first Arbor Day, April 10, 1872, more than 1 million trees were planted. This press release was produced by the City of West Haven. The views expressed here are the author's own.