117 Pennsylvania Communities Recognized with Tree City USA Status

On this year's Arbor Day (April 29, 2022), 117 Pennsylvania communities were awarded Tree City USA status by the National Arbor Day Foundation for their work planting and caring for trees during 2021. Those communities planted over 11,000 trees and spent over $20 million on urban forest management or approximately $5.69 per person in those communities. Approximately 30% of Pennsylvanians live in a Tree City USA community.

The Tree City USA program was started in 1976 by the National Arbor Day Foundation as a way to recognize green communities that work to plant and maintain trees. Originally, only 42 communities in 16 states were awarded Tree City USA status. Today, 3,676 communities across the United States are recognized. Philadelphia, the largest city in Pennsylvania with over 1.5 million people, was one of the first Tree City USA communities and has worked to maintain that status for 45 years. Smaller communities in Pennsylvania have earned and maintained Tree City USA status as well. Laporte, in Sullivan County, with just 300 residents, has been a Tree City USA for 21 years. Other Tree City USA communities across Pennsylvania include Pittsburgh, Erie, Harrisburg, Lancaster, York, Pottsville, State College, Reading, Allentown, and many more. A complete list of Tree City USA communities can be found on the Tree City USA website.

To be eligible for Tree City USA recognition, communities must meet requirements in four categories:

• Maintaining a tree board or department
• Having a community tree ordinance
• Spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry
• Celebrating Arbor Day

With the success of the Tree City USA program, the National Arbor Day Foundation has developed related programs working with electric utilities, universities, and hospitals, with the goal of further protecting and enhancing tree canopy in our communities.

In an effort to reduce tree and utility conflicts and promote solutions and the proper care of trees, the Tree Line USA program recognizes electric utility companies meeting standards of providing annual training for their workers about tree care, pruning trees in accordance with industry standards, celebrating Arbor Day, providing public education about tree planting and care, and promoting a tree-based energy conservation program. The Tree Line USA program exists to recognize best practices in public and private utility arboriculture, demonstrating how trees and utilities can co-exist for the benefit of communities and citizens. The four Pennsylvania utility companies recognized are:

• Citizen's Electric Company
• PECO Energy Company
• Duquesne Light Company
• FirstEnergy Pennsylvania

In 2008, the National Arbor Day Foundation began the Tree Campus Higher Education program to provide recognition to colleges and universities that were striving to create and maintain green campuses with lots of tree canopy cover. Green space provides important mental health benefits to students, faculty, staff, and visitors, and also encourages physical activity. Pennsylvania has 24 colleges or universities awarded Tree Campus Higher Education status this year:

• Bryn Mawr College
• Bucknell University
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Chatham University
• Duquesne University
• Franklin & Marshall College
• Haverford College Arboretum
• Juniata College
• La Roche College
• Lehigh University
• Messiah University
• Moravian College
• Muhlenberg College
• Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
• Pennsylvania College of Technology
• Temple University - Ambler Campus
• The Pennsylvania State University – University Park Campus
• Thiel College
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Pittsburgh

Following the Tree Campus Higher Education program, but applying the concepts to healthcare campuses, Tree Campus Healthcare is the newest recognition program of the National Arbor Day Foundation. This program connects inpatient healthcare facilities of all sizes with local community forestry programs to improve human health outcomes, while improving the extent and condition of the community forest. The vision is that healthcare providers, their patients, employees, and neighbors all enjoy the benefits of a healthier lifestyle — one that engages them in activities with trees and urban forests. Four Pennsylvania hospitals have received this recognition:

• Coatesville VA Medical Center
• Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
• UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
• UPMC Shadyside Hospital

All of these programs recognize a common goal of achieving communities with healthy trees to provide a range of benefits to our mental and physical health, along with ecosystem services to ensure healthy living environments. Communities recognized by these Arbor Day Foundation programs, whether municipalities, higher education institutes, or healthcare campuses, are striving towards a healthy tree canopy to improve the quality of life for the residents, employees, students, patients, and others of those communities. Likewise, electric utility companies are recognized for their contribution to this goal in the communities they work in. Interested communities can review details about each program on the National Arbor Day website.