Tree City USA and Tree Campus Program

Tree City USA and Tree Campus Program

Tree City USA is a national program from the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the US Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters. The program has been greening cities and towns across the United States since 1976.

2021 Hawaiʻi Tree City/Campus Graphic.

 

Tree City Communities

The Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City program provides the framework necessary for communities to manage and expand their public trees.  Hawaiʻi has proudly been participating in the program since the program’s inception with our first community, Maui who joined in 1976.  Participation in the program has grown since and we continue to welcome new communities each year. Today, Hawaiʻi boasts ten Tree City USA communities, including:

image from Ohana Military Communities for Tree City USA

Maui

Since 1976

City and County of Honolulu

Since 1980

Joint Base Pearl Harbor/Hickam

Since 1998

Schofield Barracks

Since 2008

Aliamanu Military Reservation

Since 2011

Image of Mililani Town Tree City USA celebration

Helemano Military Reservation

Since 2011

Fort Shafter

Since 2011

Wheeler Army Airfield

Since 2011

ʻOhana Military Communities, Navy

Since 2018

ʻOhana Military Communities, MCBH

Since 2020

 

Tree Campus Higher Education Communities

The Tree Campus Higher Education program is also from the Arbor Day Foundation and allows colleges and universities join the national program! This program helps them establish and sustain healthy community forests. Tree Campus are required to meet the same standards as Tree City USA communities with an additional Service Learning Project aimed at engaging the student body. 

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Since 2008

Windward Community College

Since 2019

Kapiʻolani Community College

Since 2019

 

Tree Campus K-12 Communities

Punahou students plant a tree in observance of Arbor DayIn 2022, the Arbor Day Foundation added the Tree Campus K-12 program to inspire the next generation of tree stewards through experiences that bring the benefits of trees to life both inside and outside the classroom. The program fosters positive connections between youth and the trees in their community and cultivates within its participants a lifelong respect for trees on a global scale.  Local student Anna Learner ’22 led efforts to establish Punahou School as the first Tree Campus K-12 community in Hawaiʻi in the programʻs first year!

Punahou School

Since 2022

 

Is your community interested in becoming a Tree City? 

 

Tree City USA communities are required to establish all of the following:

  1. a Tree Board or Department
  2. a Community Tree Ordinance
  3. a Community Forestry Program with a minimum of at least $2 per capita
  4. an Arbor Day Observance and Proclamation

 

Learn more about the Tree City USA program on Arbor Day Foundation’s website 

Applications are due December 31st each year. Reach out to Kaulunani staff to start your application today!