Arbor effort takes root at BGSU PDF  | Print |  E-mail
Written by Sentinel-Tribune Staff   
Tuesday, 12 October 2010 08:49
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BGSU students position a tree in a hole in a field near Doyt Perry Stadium.
This past weekend Bowling Green State University helped the Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota celebrate the positive impact Tree Campus USA is having on college campuses across the United States. As a way to commemorate the program's success, the Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota teamed up with students and volunteers to plant trees on the school's campus.
In the second year of the program, Tree Campus USA has more than doubled as 74 colleges and universities across the United States earned recognition. The Arbor Day Foundation began Tree Campus USA with support from Toyota to recognize colleges and universities that practice sound campus forestry.
The aim of the program is to honor college campuses for promoting healthy urban forest management and engaging the campus community in environmental stewardship. Since its inception, Tree Campus USA has been supported by $1.3 million in grants from Toyota.
To celebrate the program's success and reach in just two short years, the Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota are holding tree-planting events on six college campuses this fall. In addition to Bowling Green State University, Tree Campus USA tree-planting events will also be held at Creighton University; Florida International University; the University of California, Irvine; Furman University; and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).
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Members of the public plant trees in a field near Doyt Perry Stadium. (Photos: Enoch Wu/Sentinel-Tribune)
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Miltch Miller of Bowling Green rakes fresh mulch over an area containing newly planted trees.
During the event, students and volunteers at BGSU planted 48 trees near Doyt Perry Stadium on campus. The tree-planting event was part of BGSU's 100-year anniversary celebration, and increased the tree canopy near one of the primary entrances to the campus.
"In our view, there's no better way to celebrate the achievements of Tree Campus USA than to plant trees with students on beautiful college campuses like Bowling Green State," said John Rosenow, chief executive and founder of the Arbor Day Foundation. "By encouraging students to get involved with conservation efforts on campus, Bowling Green State is helping the next generation of tree planters see first-hand that a landscape can be transformed and a community improved by the simple act of giving back to the earth."
In order to become a Tree Campus USA community, schools are required to meet five core standards of tree care and community engagement. Those standards are: establishing a campus tree advisory committee; evidence of a campus tree-care plan; verification of dedicated annual expenditures on the campus tree plan; involvement in an Arbor Day observance; and the institution of a service-learning project aimed at engaging the student body.
More information about the Tree Campus USA program is available at www.arborday.org/TreeCampusUSA.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 12 October 2010 09:19
 

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