Framingham One of 83 Communities Honored with Tree City USA Awards

Photo Credit: Petroni Media Company

Yesterday, June 3, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation presented the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA award to 83 Massachusetts communities, including Framingham and a Tree Line USA award to utility company National Grid.

These awards are in recognition of communities and utility companies who have demonstrated great commitment to community based forestry management and urban tree growth.

“The Department of Conservation and Recreation is proud to partner with the Arbor Day Foundation to recognize these communities that are on the forefront of urban forestry management,” said Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Carol Sanchez, who lives in Framingham. “It is crucial to have committed partners in local communities and utility companies implementing and maintaining sound forestry management programs that improve everyone’s quality of life. Massachusetts has the largest number of Tree City USA communities in New England and Department of Conservation and Recreation hopes to expand that lead in years to come.”

Department of Conservation and Recreation Deputy Commissioner for Operations Matthew Sisk presented the awards to the 83 communities and National Grid during a special event held at Hampshire College today.

The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation, which is the nation’s largest nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees, and is administered in Massachusetts by Department of Conservation and Recreation. The program recognizes communities that have met certain baseline requirements for urban and community forestry programs. A community must meet four standards to be recognized as a Tree City USA community. These standards include:

• The creation of a municipal tree board or department;

• The passing of a qualifying municipal tree care ordinance;

• The maintaining of a community forestry program with an annual budget of at least $2 per capital and

• The scheduling of an official Arbor Day observance and proclamation recognizing the importance of trees within our communities.

Utility companies can become eligible for a Tree Line USA award by maintaining quality tree care, training workers annually on best practices, implementing tree planting and public education programs, utilizing tree based energy conservation programs, and sponsoring Arbor Day activities.

Other communities that received the award included Acton, Amherst, Andover, Arlington, Bedford, Belmont, Beverly, Boston, Boxford, Brockton, Brookline, Cambridge, Chatham, Chelmsford, Chelsea, Chicopee, Danvers, Dedham, Duxbury, Easton, Fall River, Falmouth, Grafton, Great Barrington, Greenfield, Groton, Hanscom AFB, Haverhill, Hingham, Holyoke, Ipswich, Lanesborough, Lawrence, Leominster, Lexington, Longmeadow, Lowell, Ludlow, Lynn, Lynnfield, Marblehead, Marion, Marlborough, Mattapoisett, Medfield, Medford, Nantucket, Natick, Needham, Newburyport, Newton, Northampton, Orleans, Peabody, Petersham, Pittsfield, Plymouth, Quincy, Reading, Salem, Saugus, Sheffield, Somerville, South Hadley, Springfield, Stoneham, Sturbridge, Sutton, Swampscott, Wakefield, Walpole, Warren, Watertown, Wellesley, West Bridgewater, West Springfield, Westborough, Weston, Westover AFB, Weymouth, Winchester, and Worcester.

For more information regarding the Tree City USA Awards and the Tree Line USA Awards, please visit the Arbor Day Foundation’s website at www.arborday.org/programs/.