Friday, April 8, was an unseasonably chilly day, but Mayor Steve Davis and Park Department horticulturist Murray Hammond braved the freezing temperatures to present Poplar Bluff’s new certification in urban forestry during a gathering at Whiteley Park.
“We are now a Tree City USA destination, which is something very important,” Davis said.
The event at Whiteley Park was a microcosm of Tree City USA’s goals: educating and encouraging citizens to plant trees. Students from Sacred Heart Catholic School got a presentation on the history of Arbor Day from Poplar Bluff Garden Club member Judy Duncan, then helped Hammond plant an autumn blaze maple, one of several saplings added to the park.
Tree City USA is a national program by the Arbor Day Foundation, in coordination with the U.S. Forest Service, National Association of State Foresters and state agencies including the Missouri Department of Conservation. It seeks to equip and recognize communities going above and beyond in urban forestry. To earn the certification, towns must maintain a tree board, have a community tree ordinance, celebrate Arbor Day, give an Arbor Day proclamation and spend at east $2 per capita on urban forestry.
“So we far exceeded that, counting the maintenance and the trees that the park department’s been planting,” noted Emily Wolpers of the Tree Advisory Board.
The Tree Advisory Board is a volunteer organization with representatives of Municipal Utilities and the Street Department, the city planner and the city clerk as well as everyday citizens. They got Poplar Bluff’s application rolling, with guidance from one member with a background at MDC. From there, the board partnered with the Poplar Bluff Garden Club and the Park Department.
“We’re just excited to be a part of this, it fits right into our schedule of making the community a better place to live,” said Poplar Bluff Garden Club President Carla Aldridge at the event. She explained the club, which was organized in 1941, has a long history of holding Arbor Day events.
The Park Department manages grants for tree management and facilitates new plantings. Hammond said the state’s TRIM Grant is one of the most beneficial. Besides recognizing Poplar Bluff’s efforts to maintain a green community, the Tree City USA certification gives Poplar Bluff better access to grants.
“Tree City USA gives us much more access to trees that are free and also it helps the TRIM Grant... Instead of us having a 60/40 split on this, the TRIM Grant will now be a 70/30 split,” Hammond said.
He also gave special mention to Hobbs Nursery for providing and helping maintain trees bought with the TRIM Grant and providing the maples planted in Hendrickson Park.
Trees can become an overlooked resource if people are unaware of their benefits, according to Wolpers. They decrease runoff and hold soil against erosion, decrease air conditioning bills by shading homes, filter the air and give mental health benefits.
“It’s important that we try to maintain and add to what we have,” Wolpers said, since “The utilities have to keep the lines cleared, and... Trees don’t live forever. So you have to have some kind of program to continue planting trees, and especially getting the right ones in the right place on public property.”
Hammond echoed that statement. Urban development often involves clearing trees, and Poplar Bluff is an expanding city. He hopes the hard-won Tree City USA designation will encourage residents to plant more trees in the future.
“We’ll have more people even interested in helping with the effort to replant all these trees that we’ve lost over the last few years, between storms and between storms and the growth of Poplar Bluff,” he said.
Tree City USA is a yearly certification. At the end of the proclamation in Hendrickson Park, Hammond announced, “Our goal is to be one from now on.”
Mayor Davis took the first step by reading a proclamation for Arbor Day 2022, which will help the city qualify as a Tree City USA next year as well. Hammond presented him with an official Tree City USA plaque to be hung in City Hall.
Arbor Day is recognized on the last Friday of April.
The Poplar Bluff Garden Club can be contacted via the group’s Facebook page. More information on the Poplar Bluff Park Department can be found by calling 573-686-8645, emailing info@pbparks.org of visiting pbparks.org.