Berea College Named 2009 Tree Campus USA College by Arbor Day Foundation

The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit conservation organization of nearly one million members, with a mission to “inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees.”
Berea College is the second college or university in Kentucky to be named a Tree Campus USA University.

“The Tree Campus USA program will have a long-lasting impact at Berea College as it engages college students and local citizens to plant trees and create healthier communities for people to enjoy for decades to come,” said John Rosenow, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “The College will benefit from exceptional tree-care practices on campus as it works with tree-care professionals in the community to improve the tree canopy in Berea.”

Berea met the required five core standards of tree care and community engagement in order to receive Tree Campus USA status.

“The Grounds Team made this certification a departmental goal,” says Matthew Partain, the college’s grounds coordinator, “and we are very proud of this achievement.”  He elaborated on the standards Berea met to receive the Tree Campus certification.

“We developed a Tree Campus Care Plan, which helps us to tie together the management of the many old trees on campus and the news plantings.  Another important effort was forming a Berea College Campus Tree Group made up of interested faculty, staff and students. We were also able to work with two classes at Berea removing invasive honeysuckle from campus wooded areas and we had volunteer Arbor Day plantings.  The final standard involved our tracking all of the costs related to campus tree work.”

The recognition will benefit Berea, says Partain. “I think this means we will make the best decision possible for the management of the trees on campus.”