Clarkson University was honored with 2020 Tree Campus Higher Education® recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management.
“Tree Campuses and their students set examples for not only their student bodies but the surrounding communities showcasing how trees create a healthier environment,” said Dan Lambe, president of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Because of Clarkson’s participation, air will be purer, water cleaner and students and faculty will be surrounded by the shade and beauty trees provide.”
The Tree Campus Higher Education program honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals. Clarkson achieved the title by meeting Tree Campus Higher Education’s five standards, which include maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and student service-learning project. Currently there are 403 campuses across the United States with this recognition.
“Clarkson is committed to its campus canopy. In 2020 we invested significantly in both our landscaped parts of campus as well as our natural spaces. We planted 40 new trees in our landscaped areas and actively pruned and maintained about 100 ornamental trees. Our tree committee and grounds department has made progress toward the goals we’ve outlined in our Tree Care Plan,” said Clarkson’s Assistant Director of Sustainability Alex French. “Work in our natural areas has led to new no-mow areas of campus, improving recreational opportunities in our forests, and establishing a campus forest committee to manage these spaces. Approximately 200 campus community members have been involved with these various efforts over the last year through activities such as cleaning up the forest trail heads, constructing a lean-to, developing kiosks, and removing sod to establish no-mow zones.”
The Arbor Day Foundation has helped campuses throughout the country plant thousands of trees, and Tree Campus Higher Education colleges and universities invested more than $51 million in campus forest management last year. This work directly supports the Arbor Day Foundation’s Time for Trees initiative — an unprecedented effort to plant 100 million trees in forests and communities and inspire 5 million tree planters by 2022. Last year, Tree Campus Higher Education schools collectively planted 39,178 trees and engaged 81,535 tree planters — helping us work toward these critical goals.
About the Arbor Day Foundation: The Arbor Day Foundation is a million-member nonprofit conservation and education organization with the mission to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees. More information is available at arborday.org.