Tree City & Tree Campus Programs
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 Statistics
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:
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
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
In 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! Le Jardin Academy (LJA) student Zoe Wiechmann completed Kaulunani’s “My Tree Campus” challenge as part of the Hawaiʻi Youth Sustainability Challenge; a collaboration between Kupu and Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation.
Punahou School
Since 2022
Le Jardin Academy
Since 2023
Is your community interested in becoming a Tree City?
Tree City USA communities are required to establish all of the following:
- a Tree Board or Department
- a Community Tree Ordinance
- a Community Forestry Program with a minimum of at least $2 per capita
- 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!