For Immediate Release Contact: Wendy Fox
May 24, 2007 617-626-1453
STATE HONORS 88 MASSACHUSETTS COMMUNITIES
WITH ANNUAL TREE CITY USA AWARDS
3 Utility Companies Presented with Tree Line USA Awards
HAVERHILL—The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) today presented 88 Massachusetts communities with the 2007 Tree City USA Award in a ceremony at the Winnekenni Castle. DCR Acting Commissioner Priscilla Geigis presented the awards, sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation in recognition of communities of any size that are making a commitment to community and urban forestry. Also, for the first time, 22 communities were presented with the Massachusetts Sustainable Community Forestry Award for achieving a particularly high standard of community forest management.
“Our community and urban
forests improve the health, well-being and quality of life of our
communities. The municipal and corporate
partners we are honoring today have shown their dedication to maintaining these
precious natural resources for the benefit of all,” said DCR Acting
Commissioner Priscilla Geigis. “It is
due to their dedication and commitment to urban forestry that Massachusetts has
the largest number of Tree City USA communities in all of New England and New
York.”
Tree City USA awards recognize communities which meet four standards, including having a tree board or tree department, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry, enforcing laws that protect public trees, and holding an Arbor Day celebration. Tree Line USA awards recognize public and private utilities across the nation that demonstrate practices that protect and enhance urban forests.
Twentieth Year Tree City USA Benchmark Awards were presented
to Amherst, Danvers
and Hanscom Air Force Base. Other Benchmark Awards were presented to Cambridge and Gloucester (15 years); Barnstable,
Bridgewater, Falmouth, Lowell, Marion and Westover Air Reserve Base
(10 years); and, Arlington, Greenfield, Lawrence and Salem (5
years). Four first-time Tree City USA
communities were also honored: Ludlow, Milton, Plympton
and Winthrop.
Other 2007 Tree City USA Award winners (with the number years they have participated in the program in parentheses) include:
Amesbury (11), Andover (8), Bedford (7), Belmont (22),
Beverly (6), Billerica (3), Boston (11), Boxford (2), Brockton (9), Brookline (19), Chelsea (3), Chicopee
(14), Dalton (6), Duxbury (16), Easton (19), Everett (6), Fall River (2),
Framingham (16), Grafton (7), Groton (11), Haverhill (11), Hingham (19),
Holyoke (6), Lanesborough (2), Leominster (9), Lexington (18), Longmeadow (6),
Lynn (17), Manchester-by-the-Sea (19), Marblehead (8), Marshfield (12), Medford
(9), Melrose (9), Nantucket (7), Needham (12), New Bedford (7), Newburyport
(11), Newton (18), North Adams (11), Northampton (2), Orleans (9), Peabody
(11), Petersham (3), Pittsfield (2), Plymouth (18), Quincy
(11), Reading (22), Sandwich (6), Saugus (8), Scituate
(9), Sherborn (7), Somerville (12), Southampton (2), Springfield (21), Stoneham
(7), Sturbridge (18), Sutton (7), Swampscott (16), Wakefield (6), Waltham (11),
Watertown (16), Wellesley (24), West Bridgewater (13), West Springfield (19), Westfield (3), Weston (4), Weymouth
(7), Woburn (2) and Worcester (21).
Three Massachusetts utility companies, NSTAR, Chicopee Electric Light and National Grid, received 2007 Tree Line USA Awards for meeting standards in quality tree care, ongoing worker training, and tree planting and education programs. In addition, National Grid sponsored the luncheon event.
The 22
communities honored with the new Massachusetts
Sustainable Community Forestry Award met stringent criteria, including the adoption of a sound forest management plan,
professional staffing, strong inter-agency coordination, current status as a
Tree City USA, and more. These
communities included Bedford, Beverly, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Duxbury, Fall River, Groton, Haverhill, Lowell, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marion,
Melrose, Newton, Orleans, Scituate, Sherborn, Springfield, Sutton, Wellesley and Worcester.
The Tree City USA and Tree Line USA awards programs are administered by DCR’s Urban and Community Forestry Program.
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