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The Arbor Day Foundation has named Fort Riley a Tree City USA community for 34 years running. The conservation team at Fort Riley is actively pursuing the distinction for the 35th straight year, leading any military installation by a longshot according to Tree City USA’s records.
Tree City USA is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation with cooperation from the National Association of State Foresters and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service.
“According to the Arbor Day Foundation, there are only 3,500 communities in the United States that have earned the designation of Tree City USA,” says Adam Hastert, lead management agronomist with Directorate of Public Works at Fort Riley. “We are by far and away the longest -running installation at 34 years and counting.”
Fort Riley earns the designation by adhering to four core standards established by the Arbor Day Foundation: establish a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, spend at least $2 per capita on urban forestry per year and observe Arbor Day annually with a ceremony.
Hastert explains Fort Riley achieves this distinction easily, especially through the maintenance of trees on post.
“Every year we do a survey of urban forestry and identify any hazard trees that either need pruned or ultimately removed, and that’s somewhat costly,” says Hastert. “Other things we do are preventative and curative for tree disease ... we have quite a few American elms which we inject with a fungicide to prevent Dutch elm disease.”
Given the longstanding history of Fort Riley, a lot of effort is put into maintaining mature trees.
“Some of the oldest trees would probably be some of the larger historic cottonwoods that we have down along the Kansas River. Typically that’s where trees were found in the native tallgrass prairie,” he said. “We do have some burr oaks that I would say are well over 100 years old.”
Replacing trees removed due to age or infection is the center of this year’s Arbor Day ceremony. A red oak was planted behind Grimes Hall April 29 to replace a declined red oak that was removed. The proclamation delivered by Herbert Abel, Chief of the Environmental Division, Directorate of Public Works, declared, “Many of the trees that provide focal points for activities are found in public settings and were perhaps planted in hopes of someday garnering an unspoken thanks from the community.”
Plans for a gazebo or outdoor picnic area are in the works to compliment the shade and atmosphere the new tree will provide.
Fort Riley Environmental Division, Directorate of Public Works, maintains many areas of responsibility including the Conservation Branch and Urban Forestry department.
| Date Taken: | 04.30.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 04.30.2021 15:10 |
| Story ID: | 395263 |
| Location: | FORT RILEY, KANSAS, US |
| Web Views: | 40 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fort Riley pursues 35th consecutive annual Tree City USA distinction, by Kaitlin Knauer, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
