Cities, Colleges, Utilities Recognized for Keeping Community Forests Vibrant

May 30, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. — More than 100 cities, colleges and utilities received awards from the Nebraska Forest Service and Nebraska Statewide Arboretum this spring for their efforts in planting and maintaining trees.

"Communities are becoming more sophisticated with the tools they use to manage their tree resources," said Graham Herbst, NFS community forestry specialist for eastern Nebraska. "Tree City USA is a good tool in the community's tool box, which will be a starting point for the looming discovery of emerald ash borer that will affect our tree canopy."

Five eastern cities received Tree City Growth awards: Battle Creek, Bellevue, Gretna, Lincoln and South Sioux City.

Recipients of the 2013 Tree City USA award in eastern Nebraska: Allen, Ashland, Atkinson, Auburn, Battle Creek, Beatrice, Bellevue, Bennington, Blair, Boys Town, Central City, Columbus, Cook, Creighton, Crete, Crofton, David City, Dodge, Doniphan, Fairbury, Falls City, Fremont, Friend, Grand Island, Gretna, Hartington, Hastings, Hickman, Humboldt, Julian, Kearney, La Vista, Laurel, Lincoln, Milford, Minden, Nebraska City, Neligh, Nelson, Nemaha, Norfolk, Odell, Omaha, O'Neill, Ord, Papillion, Pender, Pierce, Pilger, Plainview, Ralston, Red Cloud, Schuyler, Scribner, Seward, Shelton, South Sioux City, Stella, Stromsburg, Sutton, Tekamah, Valley, Waco, Wahoo, Wakefield, Wausa, Waverly, Wayne, Wisner, York.

Recipients of the 2013 Tree City USA awards in western Nebraska: Alliance, Arapahoe, Bassett, Bayard, Benkelman, Brady, Broken Bow, Cambridge, Chadron, Chappell, Cozad, Curtis, Farnam, Gering, Gothenburg, Grant, Holdrege, Imperial, Kimball, Lexington, McCook, Mitchell, Morrill, North Platte, Ogallala, Paxton, Potter, Rushville, Scottsbluff, Sidney, Sutherland, Trenton, Wallace, Wauneta.

Ogallala has received 30 years of Tree City USA awards, Gering and Scottsbluff received Tree City Growth awards for practicing higher levels of tree management.

These college campuses received Tree Campus USA awards: Creighton University, Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis, Nebraska Wesleyan University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nebraska Medical Center and University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Four public utilities were Tree Line USA recipients: Lincoln Electric System, Nebraska City Utilities, Nebraska Public Power District and Omaha Public Power District.