Kingsport to celebrate Arbor Day with tree planting
The City of Kingsport will celebrate Arbor Day next week with a tree planting at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School.
The ceremony will take place behind the school (Overlook Road and D Street) at 1 pm on March 1st. City officials will plant a Redbud tree and issue a proclamation declaring Kingsport’s 38th Arbor Day celebration.
“Our trees and forests are part of what makes Kingsport such a great place to live,” said Landscaping and Ground Maintenance Manager Tamra Rossi. “We strive to be a leader in proper management of our trees, and I think it shows every year.”
In honor of the city’s commitment to effective urban forestry management, the National Arbor Day Foundation will recognize Kingsport as a Tree City USA for the thirty-eighth year in a row.
A community must meet four standards to receive this national designation and the Tree City USA flag. It must have a tree advisory board or department, a tree care ordinance, a comprehensive community forestry program and an annual Arbor Day celebration. The National Association of State Foresters, USDA Forest Service and the Tennessee Division of Forestry also sponsor the Tree City USA program.
Kingsport’s Streets and Sanitation Department maintains over 12,000 trees and over 15 acres of landscaping in the city. The department also removes damaged or deceased trees on public lands, while providing annual upkeep of 21 park facilities and 827 acres of green space.
This department also maintains a Level II Arboretum Certification at Borden Park, sponsored by Domtar and Keep Kingsport Beautiful. The Tennessee Urban Forestry Council and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture coordinate the arboretum certification program, which encourages public education of the importance of the different species of trees. Level II requirements include labeling over 60 tree species, keeping a map available to the public that shows the locations of the tree species and exemplifying proper tree management practices.
Kingsport’s Arbor Day celebration is a partnership of Domtar, City of Kingsport, Kingsport Tree Advisory Board and Keep Kingsport Beautiful.
