Huntington Recognized as 2020 Tree City USA Community
The City of Huntington has been recognized as a Tree City USA community for 2020 by the Arbor Day Foundation.
This is the 20th year that Huntington has received the recognition from the program, which has been greening up cities and communities since 1976.
“I am proud of our community’s ongoing efforts to keep our community beautiful and green,” Mayor Steve Williams said. “Tree plantings have been a primary project among volunteer groups in many of our neighborhoods in recent years. Trees not only add to the beauty of our community, they also are a vital component of flood mitigation.”
This past year, trees were planted on the West End and on the Southside, adding to tree-plantings in downtown Huntington, Fairfield, Highlawn and in Central City. The city also maintains an Urban Forestry Advisory Committee that helps coordinate tree-plantings and consults with the city’s Public Works Department on tree-related issues.
According to the Arbor Day Foundation, communities that achieve Tree City USA status meet four core standards of sound urban forestry management: maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry and celebrating Arbor Day. This year, the Arbor Day Foundation waived the Arbor Day celebration requirement because of social distancing guidelines associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.