Tree City USA
2023 Tree City USA and Tree Campus Higher Education Guidance
from the Arbor Day Foundation
For calendar year 2023, an Arbor Day celebration and proclamation is required in order to earn or maintain Tree City USA. An Arbor Day celebration will also be required to earn or maintain Tree Campus Higher Education and Tree Line USA recognition. There are many ways a community/campus/utility might meet this standard, including:
An in-person gathering (e.g. community tree planting or festival)
A virtual event (e.g. webinar or livestreamed tree planting)
A social media post or campaign
Mail outreach (e.g. A Right Tree, Right Place educational flier)
A tree distribution
Direct, in-person outreach or trainings (e.g. workshops educating community members about their community trees)
Proclamations should declare a local Arbor Day, and ideal celebrations will occur on or surrounding Arbor Day; however, it is not required for the celebration to occur on or surrounding Arbor Day.
Thank you for your support as we continue to adapt to changing circumstances. Let us know if you have any questions.
Thanks!
Lauren Weyers
Program Operations Manager
Tree City USA in Wyoming
Tree City USA is a national program that recognizes communities that have made a commitment to actively plant and care for their public trees. The program is sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation, State Foresters, USDA Forest Service, US Conference of Mayors, and the National League of Cities. Tree City USA was initiated in 1976 as a project of our nation's bicentennial celebration
Currently, Wyoming ranks second in the nation for the percentage of incorporated municipalities that are Tree City USA's. The award is presented annually to communities that meet four criteria. The minimum criteria are:
Your community must have a Tree Board or Department charged by ordinance to oversee the community's tree program.
Community leaders must enact a comprehensive tree ordinance that defines tree planting, maintenance and other requirements concerning trees growing along streets and public areas.
Your community must spend at least $2 per capita on tree resources: this can include planting, city maintenance, grants and donations.
Your community must have an official Arbor Day celebration with a proclamation by the mayor and a tree planting ceremony.
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Tree City Program Summary
treecity-program-summary.pdfTo learn more about the Tree City USA program and to apply online
To learn more about the Tree Campus Higher Education program and apply online
The New Tree City USA Application Portal (2019)
Helpful Tips and Tricks
· Follow this link to the new Tree City USA certification portal. Other links will not work. https://applications.arborday.org/community/city/
· All Tree City USA communities must reset their passwords to access their application. Click on "Find Your Community" and follow the instructions to login. If you have trouble logging in after following the instructions, please email treecity@arborday.org.
· The City Forestry Contact is a person in your community that answers questions about the Tree City USA program.
· If you have more than five tree board members, please select five and enter the names and emails. Additional members' information can be uploaded as an attachment. (We do not need individual email addresses and phone numbers for each tree board member, but you must enter something to advance to the next section.)
· If you have not previously uploaded a Tree Care Ordinance you must upload or link your tree ordinance. Otherwise, communities that have uploaded an ordinance since 2019 should have one already uploaded in their profile. Unless it has been officially modified, then you will not need to upload a new version.
· DO NOT use commas, periods, or $-signs in the budget section.
· Please make sure your Arbor Day Proclamation DATED and SIGNED by the mayor or designee. It must be dated and signed each calendar year.
· Before you download the Mayor Signature Form, all sections of the application must be complete.
· If you submit your application and you are not prompted with a message that it has been submitted for review, please scroll to the top of your application to see what needs to be updated.
· The WSFD State Forester/Community Forestry Coordinator will sign each application once it is submitted in the portal.
· To apply for the Growth Award online, the community must first submit their Tree City USA application. Once they do, if they qualify to apply for the Growth Award they will be invited to start their application. At any time after they apply to as a Tree City USA they can log back into the portal and click on the link to start their Growth Award application.
· Use this Helpful video for more information about the Tree City USA portal.
Need more tools?! The Arbor Day Foundations has a Tree Celebration Toolkit and below are a plethora of sample documents and other resources
Tree City Application Checklist
treecity-checklist.pdfTCUSAapp2021.pdfOnline Applications are preferred but if paper is your preferred method please use this version
Wyoming Applications are Due January 15th
Sample - Community WITHOUT Tree Board
sample-tree-ordinance-without-tree-board-2021-updated (1).pdfSample - Community WITH Tree Board
sample-tree-ordinance-with-tree-board-2021-updated (1).pdfSample - WITH Tree Board Annotated
sample-tree-ordinance-with-tree-board-2021-annotated (1).pdfQualified Expenses
tree-city-usa-expenses-sheet.pdfSample Proclamation
proclamation.pdfInterested in getting involved in your local Tree Board? Learn more by taking a look at the Tree Board Handbook - you can download a digital copy by clicking the image to the right, or request a printed hard copy from any of our District and State Office locations.
ONLINE TREE BOARD TRAINING IS AVAILABLE! Additional Tree Board training is available through the Tree Board University! This is a self-paced, online training that you can sign up for by clicking here. There are eight sessions. "Each course includes videos, multimedia presentations, reference documents, and online links to additional information. Upon completion of the eight courses, you will be able to join an online social networking community, where you can post questions and interact with other like-minded Tree Board members from across the USA."
treeboardhandbook.pdfApply for a Tree City USA Growth Award!
Check out this video for more information about Tree City USA Growth Awards. The Tree City USA Growth Awards Program has been revamped to include a ton of new activities that count toward points that can be counted toward your Growth Award application. Check out the all inclusive list of activities by category Here