By Tom McClimon
June 19, 2006

The U.S. Conference of Mayors and The Home Depot Foundation announced the winners of the first annual Awards of Excellence for Community Trees at the Conference of Mayors 74th Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. Announced in January at the Conference’s Winter Meeting in Washington (DC), the program presents awards and $200,000 in grants to cities in two population categories — those with populations over 100,000, and those with populations less than 100,000.

Baltimore (MD) won first place in the large city category and Norwalk (CT) won first place in the small city category. Top winning cities each received a $75,000 grant. The runner up cities, each receiving a $25,000 grant, were Portland (OR), large, and Davenport (IA), small.

The grants were awarded to mayors and their respective city’s non-profit partner to further the goal of promoting healthy communities through tree planting and the management of the urban forest.

Project winners were selected by an independent advisory committee comprised of experts in the field of urban forestry, environment and sustainable community development. Committee members include representatives from the USDA Forest Service, National Arbor Day Foundation and former Conference President James Garner.

“The Home Depot Foundation believes that the urban forest is one of the essential building blocks for healthy, livable communities impacting our social, economic and overall well being,” said Kelly Caffarelli, Executive Director, The Home Depot Foundation. “We created the Awards of Excellence for Community Trees and Urban Forests to identify, recognize and showcase outstanding, innovative work of public/private partnerships engaged in enhancing and strengthening communities through the strategic use of trees. Our hope is that by recognizing cities and their local urban forestry programs through the Awards program, we will be able to improve the visibility and effectiveness of urban forestry in America’s cities.”

Baltimore and the Parks & People Foundation’s Watershed 263 project is an unique, visionary collaborative that not only brings together a diverse group of stakeholders (56 organizations to date) and demonstrates exceptional public/private partnerships, but also shows the comprehensive integration of the social, economic and environmental restoration that can be achieved through the use of trees. Watershed 263 focuses on revitalizing inner city communities by using urban forestry watershed projects to measurably improve both water quality and quality of life. The project began in 2003 and is scheduled to be completed by 2008 with the implementation of 107 forestry projects that will accomplish 25 percent reduction in storm water pollution.

Portland is committed to expanding its urban tree canopy and has worked closely with the Friends of Trees (FOT) for the past 16 years. The FOT’s Neighborhood Tree Program (NT) is designed to address the historic loss of canopy cover in Portland neighborhoods by working to plant street, yard and school trees in the neediest communities of the city. Each year FOT works with over 2,100 community volunteers that contribute more than 20,000 hours of service. The success of FOT is due in large part to the wide diversity of partners including community groups, neighborhood organizations, and solid, long-term working relationships with the government agencies and departments. Between 2003-2005 FOT planted 5,671 trees in 52 different neighborhoods. Since its inception in 1990, FOT has planted over 330,000 trees, plants and shrubs.

Throughout Norwalk, several tree-related initiatives began taking place between 2000-2004. In 2004, the city recognized that greater benefits could be achieved if the various programs were coordinated and developed the Urban Forest Improvement Project. The objectives of the project are to restore trees in barren residential and commercial areas of the city, restore the canopy to once tree-lined streets, and educate citizens and children on the important role of trees to the health of communities. Annually, the city provides capital funds for the purchase and planting of trees through its Free Tree Program. Tree liaisons work with over 22 neighborhood associations to locate homes that need trees. In addition, the city coordinates communication and interaction between city departments of parks, public works, planning & zoning, as well as the Redevelopment Agency, the Norwalk Tree Alliance, Clean & Green, the Chamber of Commerce and the Norwalk Neighborhood Association.

Realizing the value of the community trees to the economic, health and overall success of its community, Davenport developed a goal in 1992 to fully stock the city’s urban forest by 2010, concentrating after that on replacement and new development trees. At that time, the city established a budget for tree planting and worked with the Home Building Association and local developers to enact a Restoration Fee to raise funds for tree plantings in new subdivisions. This fee is unique to the state of Iowa and most of the United States. With the help of the Greenway Habitat, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised, over 10,000 trees have been planted, and the city is within four years of reaching its goal of a completely stocked urban forest. In addition to the planting of trees, Greenway Habitat also focuses on the maintenance of trees with a volunteer work force that prunes over 500 trees annually.

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Applications for the 2007 Awards of Excellence for Community Trees will be available in January 2007.