CU-Boulder Honored As Tree Campus USA By Arbor Day Foundation

BOULDER, CO — For the ninth year in a row, the University of Colorado-Boulder has been honored with a Tree Campus USA designation from the Arbor Day Foundation. Launched in 2008, Tree Campus USA aims to honor colleges and universities for both effective campus forest management and for engaging employees and students in conservation goals. According to CU statistics, the Boulder campus is home to more than 3,800 cultivated trees, not to mention those naturally growing along Boulder Creek.

That tally includes more than 100 species of trees, 14 of which are native to Colorado. The University employs four full-time arborists to care for them. To qualify for the Arbor Day honor, schools must meet five criteria to qualify for the honor, including maintaining a tree advisory committee, having a campus tree-care plan, dedicating annual expenditures for the tree-care program, conducting an annual Arbor Day observance and sponsoring student service-learning projects.

CU-Boulder is among seven Colorado schools to earn the designation. According to a CU news release, university Arboriculture Manager Vince Aquino and his team will work with the Student Association of Landscape Architects to plant between three and five additional trees around campus to recognize Arbor Day.