Kansas Communities Earn Tree City USA Designation 4/11/02

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Together, their efforts changed the face of the state. The 98 Kansas communities honored Wednesday [April 10] during the Kansas Forest Service’s annual Tree City USA celebration spent more than $9 million dollars last year in support of trees.

The communities collectively planted almost 19,000 trees; pruned about 53,700; and removed more than 8,000 that were dead, dying or dangerous. Their other activities ranged from organizing public workshops to participating in such statewide organizations as the Kansas Arborist Association.

To right: Ray Aslin addressing audience just prior to presenting awards.

Each now has the right to post Tree City USA signs at the city limits through the upcoming year.

"Every community’s accomplishments in the Tree City USA program are important. A small town that plants a few trees has the same impact on its residents as a big city that plants hundreds. Scientists are still finding all of the benefits that trees provide. But we already know trees make a hometown look and seem more liveable. They lift people’s spirits, provide shade and shelter songbirds. They even help clean up the air we breathe," said Eric Berg, the Kansas Forest Service’s community forestry coordinator.

To become a Tree City USA, a community must pass a tree ordinance, organize a tree board or department, proclaim and celebrate an Arbor Day, and budget at least $2 per resident.

At left: Tree planting ceremony (left to right): J. David Mattox (standing behind tree with rake) City employee (bent over with hat), Ray Aslin

This year’s Tree City USA celebration in Kansas also included recognition for joint winners of the State Forester’s Award for Urban and Community Forestry:

* Hazel Craig, who helped found the Mulvane Tree Board in 1991. She served as the board’s active, dedicated leader through much of her 70s and into her 80s. When she stepped down, her hometown not only had more trees but also had healthier ones – plus a Tree City USA Growth Award.

* Velda Roberts, who was leading Tonganoxie’s one-year-old tree board when a tornado struck the community in 2000. Her monumental efforts in fund raising, mobilizing community resources, and finding help outside the city limits left Tonganoxie with more trees than before and new landscaping for the library.

Also honored during the ceremonies was Westar Energy (formerly known as KGE and KPL), a division of Western Resources and the state’s largest electric utility. Western Resources was state’s first Tree Line USA Utility and now has earned the title for three years in a row. Achieving that status requires a utility to have a program for proper tree care around utility lines – to include public education, tree planting, and annual employee training in safe pruning techniques.

The forest service recognized two Kansans for their part in the 2002 National Arbor Day Poster Contest:

* Hillsboro fifth grader Shelby Koons, whose poster illustrating "Trees Are Terrific ... inside and out!" placed first among more than 1,800 entries from across the state and now will be part of the first National Arbor Day Art Exhibit through June at the U.S. Botanical Gardens in Washington, D.C. Her poster also will represent the state in national competition. The winner will be announced April 26, which is National and Kansas Arbor Day. Shelby is the daughter of Roderick and Carrie Koons.

Above: Kids holding poster (left to right): Shelby Koons, Samantha Koons (sister) Adults (left to right): Carrie Koons, Ray Aslin, Rod Koons, Sherry Fields (Shelby's teacher)

* Sherry Fields, Shelby’s teacher at Hillsboro Elementary School, won classroom aids when her pupil won a U.S. Savings Bond in the state poster contest. The duo are now eligible for similar, but larger awards in the national competition.

Tree City USA, Tree Line USA, and the Arbor Day Poster Contest are joint programs of the Kansas Forest Service and National Arbor Day Foundation.

The forest service has long-time cooperative ties with Kansas State University Research and Extension programs, with each providing in-kind services for the other and with local Extension offices serving as an outlet for information about this and other forestry programs. More information about Kansas trees and the Kansas Forest Service’s related programs and contests also is available on the World Wide Web (www.kansasforests.org).

Abilene	10	Hays	23	Oskaloosa	7
Anthony	17	Haysville	2	Oswego	12
Arkansas City	8	Herington	13	*Ottawa	3
Atchison	20	Hesston	17	*Overland Park	23
Attica	2	*Hillsboro	7	*Park City	3
Atwood	6	Hoisington	19	*Parsons	13
Bel Aire	7	*Hutchinson	8	Phillipsburg	15
Beloit	25	Junction City	26	Prairie Village	5
Blue Rapids	20	Kiowa	6	Pratt	8
*Bonner Springs	16	Lake Quivira	7	*Roeland Park	9
*Burlington	9	*Lawrence	24	Russell	16
Chanute	23	Leavenworth	8	Salina	12
Clay Center	26	Leawood	6	*Sedgwick	4
*Clearwater	6	Lenexa	14	Shawnee	5
Concordia	9	Liberal	19	South Hutchinson	1
Council Grove	5	*Lindsborg	17	Spring Hill	6
Countryside	7	Louisburg	5	St. John	6
Cunningham	9	Lyndon	1	Stockton	4
*Derby	9	Maize	5	*Tonganoxie	3
Dodge City	26	Manhattan	25	Topeka	15
Effingham	8	Mankato	21	Troy	5
*El Dorado	9	Marquette	7	Ulysses	23
Emporia	16	Marysville	22	WaKeeney	13
Fairway	17	McConnell AFB	8	Wamego	14
Forbes Field ANG	5	McDonald	8	Waterville	25
Formoso	17	*McPherson	24	Westwood	14
Ft. Riley	15	*Merriam	17	Westwood Hills	5
Garden City	24	Mission Hills	10	Wichita	16
Garnett	13	*Mulvane	11	Windom	9
Goodland	23	Newton	26	*Winfield	21
Great Bend	19	Oakley	5
Halstead	24	Oberlin	16
Harper	6	*Olathe	19
*Haven	22	Osage City	20

K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.