UTC celebrated five consecutive years as a Tree Campus USA and the City of Chattanooga was also honored for its 25th anniversary as a Tree City USA on Arbor Day, March 6. The State of Tennessee honored both the University and the City of Chattanooga for these milestones.
Of the 347 cities in the State of Tennessee, only 41 have earned the designation of Tree City USA.
Tree Campus USA is a national program that was launched in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota to honor universities for promoting healthy trees and engaging students and staff in the spirit of conservation.
To celebrate Arbor Day 2015 and commemorate UTC’s commitment to green space and biological diversity, two Overcup Oak (Quercus Lyrata) trees were planted near the UTC Challenger STEM Learning Center.
The Overcup Oak trees are native to Tennessee and expected to live fifty years or more. They are adaptable to the urban environment and in the locations the two trees were planted, their growth will be uninhibited by power lines.
Dr. Richard Brown, Executive Vice Chancellor for Finance, Operations, and Information Technology, acknowledged the hard work of all stakeholders to make UTC a green campus. Provost Jerald Ainsworth acknowledged the UTC Landscape Committee, formed in 1999. The committee commissioned the 2002 Landscape Master Plan, which emphasized gathering spaces, lawn areas, long-lived legacy trees, and pedestrian walkways.
“To date, UTC’s network of pedestrian ways is more than 50 percent complete, and 620 additional trees have been planted,” Ainsworth said. “Cultivating nearly 2,000 trees and woody plants represented by more than 60 species for scientific, educational, and ornamental purposes, UTC achieved the Certified Urban Arboretum designation by the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council in 2011.”
Gene Hyde gave a history of Arbor Day. The Chattanooga City Forrester explained that J. Sterling Morton moved to what would become the state of Nebraska, he noticed a lack of trees. After Nebraska became a state, Morton introduced a resolution to set aside a day to plant trees. The State Board of Agriculture accepted the resolution, and the first Arbor Day was celebrated in 1872 with the planting of one million trees.
Surrounding states took notice. Now, each state designates its own Arbor Day. In Tennessee, it is celebrated on the first Friday of March.
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke recalled that Chattanooga was once among the dirtiest cities in the country and today it is beautiful. “Forestry is a big part of that,” Berke said.
Dr. John Tucker said when he arrived at UTC in 1998, he was very excited about his new job, but he found the UTC campus to be “a bit barren” and “quite homely.” Tucker, Head of the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, called the greening and beautification of campus “truly remarkable” and gave thanks to: Tom Ellis, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Operations, and Janet Spraker, Director of Engineering Services, for leading UTC Facilities Planning and Management; the UTC grounds crew; Dr. Sean Richards, Landscape Committee Chair; Dr. Deborah Arfken, a member of the Landscape Committee; and Dr. Hill Craddock, Professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Studies. He also thanked all those who have make financial contributions to further landscaping efforts, including UTC students who voted in favor of a Green Fee.
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