Arbor Day Foundation Names USC Upstate Tree Campus USA
March 10, 2011
SPARTANBURG, SC – March 8, 2011 – The Arbor Day Foundation hashonored the University of South Carolina Upstate as a 2010 Tree CampusUSA University for its dedication to campus forestry management andenvironmental stewardship.
This is the third consecutive year USC Upstate has been named a TreeCampus USA University. The campus was the first public university in thestate to achieve the honor, and is one of four universities in thestate to be named a Tree Campus USA.
“The Tree Campus USA program will have a long-lasting impact at theUniversity of South Carolina Upstate as it engages college students andlocal citizens to plant trees and create healthier communities forpeople to enjoy for decades to come,” said John Rosenow, chief executiveof the Arbor Day Foundation. “The university will benefit fromexceptional tree-care practices on campus as it works with tree-careprofessionals in the community to improve the tree canopy inSpartanburg.”
Tree Campus USA, a national program launched in 2008 by the Arbor DayFoundation, honors college and universities and the leaders of thecampus and surrounding communities for promoting healthy urban forestmanagement and engaging the campus community in environmentalstewardship. Tree Campus USA is supported by a grant from Toyota.
USC Upstate met the required five core standards of tree care andcommunity engagement in order to receive Tree Campus USA status. Thosestandards are establishing a campus tree advisory committee; evidence ofa campus tree-care plan; verification of dedicated annual expenditureson the campus tree-care plan; involvement in an Arbor Day observance;and the institution of a service-learning project aimed at engaging thestudent body. USC Upstate’s Landscape Services department was alsorequired to submit a detailed inventory of trees, which included 131species of trees in 59 genera.
Over the past three years, the campus tree inventory has grown from1,471 tress (or 35 percent coverage) to 2,141 trees (53 percentcoverage). Forty acres of woodlands have been purchased, bringing thetotal of woodland space to 20.73 percent coverage.
More information about the Tree Campus USA program is available at www.arborday.org/TreeCampusUSA.The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit conservation organization ofnearly one million members, with a mission to inspire people to plant,nurture, and celebrate trees. More information on the foundation and itsprograms can be found at www.arborday.org.
For more information about the Campus Tree USA award, please contactBruce Suddeth, director of Landscape Services, at (864) 503-5500.
