Broken Arrow Celebrates Arbor Week with Tree Plantings

City officials and Rosewood Elementary School students will plant trees at Events Park

Trees provide tremendous benefits to residents and future generations. Therefore, Mayor Debra Wimpee and the Broken Arrow City Council have designated March 25-29, 2024, as Arbor Week, which has been an annual recognition in Oklahoma since 1982.

In a demonstration of the city's commitment to maintaining an urban forest, the City Council and 35 Rosewood Elementary School students will plant four Redbud Trees and two Bald Cypress Trees at the Broken Arrow Events Park, 21101 E. 101st Street South at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 26.

Broken Arrow Recognized

Broken Arrow is a 24-year Tree City USA member and was recognized last year by the Oklahoma Forestry Service and the Oklahoma Community Forest Council for achieving National Certification from the Arbor Day Foundation. Broken Arrow was among 38 communities, campuses, and utility companies honored for accomplishing specific criteria for planting and caring for trees, woodlands, and community forests in their communities and on campuses.

The criteria include the following:

• Maintaining a tree board.
• Having a community tree ordinance.
• Spending at least $2 per capita on community forestry activities.
• Celebrating Arbor Week.

The Tree City USA program exists to recognize best practices in public and private utility arboriculture by demonstrating how trees and utilities can co-exist for the benefit of the community.

How To Participate

Residents who want to leave a legacy beyond Arbor Week can participate in the City's Commemorative Tree Program. It's a way for family, friends, companies, churches, and civic organizations to donate trees for planting in one of the City's parks.

Donors may request the park and type of tree, such as shade, flowering, or evergreen. The City's Parks Department will plant and maintain the tree for three years. A donor's plaque will be next to the tree, and the donor will receive location information. A commemorative tree donation is $225. Additional trees ordered at the same time cost $200 each. Go to Commemorative Tree for more information.

The Arbor Week proclamation encourages all citizens to observe Arbor Week 2024 by planting an Oklahoma-proven tree to benefit all citizens and future generations.

Arbor Day Background

Arbor Day began in Nebraska in 1872, with the planting of more than one million trees in that state. It's now observed throughout the nation and the world. Trees are beneficial in many ways, such as:

• "There are about 60-200 million spaces along our nation’s city streets where trees could be planted. This translates to the potential to absorb 33 million more tons of CO2 every year and a $4 billion savings in energy costs." — National Wildlife Federation
• Trees can be a stimulus to economic development, attracting new businesses and tourism. Commercial retail areas are more attractive to shoppers, apartments rent more quickly, tenants stay longer, and space in a wooded setting is more valuable to sell or rent."— Arbor Day Foundation
• "The net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is the equivalent of 10 room-sized air conditioners operating 20 hours a day." — U.S. Department of Agriculture