The University of Maryland was honored with the 2019 Tree Campus USA® recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management—an honor that has been bestowed to the UMD Arboretum for twelve consecutive years. The university is one of only 25 institutions nationally who can claim this impressive distinction.
Achieving Tree Campus USA recognition reflects the UMD campus community’s sustained commitment to environmental stewardship. "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 University of Maryland's participation air will be purer, water cleaner and your students and faculty will be surrounded by the shade and beauty the trees provide.”
The Tree Campus USA program honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals. University of Maryland achieved the title by meeting Tree Campus USA’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 385 campuses across the United States with this recognition.
In addition to receiving the 2019 Tree Campus USA distinction, the UMD Arboretum has also been named the Professional Grounds Management Society’s 2019 Green Star Grand Award recipient for excellence in grounds management for an urban university—the highest recognition for excellence of landscape management practices in the country—and it was recently honored for achieving a Level IV Accreditation through The Morton Arboretum's Arbnet Accreditation Program. Only 27 other institutions worldwide have achieved this highest level of distinction.
Click here for more information about the University of Maryland’s Arboretum & Botanical Gardens.