Tree City USA

Lincoln’s Community Forest – "Our Green Infrastructure"

The Tree City USA® program, sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters, provides direction, technical assistance, public attention, and national recognition for urban and community forestry programs in thousands of towns and cities that more than 120 million Americans call home. The many benefits of being a Tree City include creating a framework for action, education, a positive public image, and citizen pride.

Did you know?

• There are 3,327 communities that are currently a Tree City USA. Lincoln has been a designated Tree City USA for 31 years. A total of 42 communities nationwide have been a Tree City USA for 30+ years, including Lincoln.
• There are 503 communities that have received a Tree City USA Growth Award. Lincoln has received a Tree City USA Growth Award for 17 consecutive years. A total of 34 communities nationwide have received this award for 15+ years or more, including Lincoln.
• There are 132 Sterling Tree City USA communities nationwide. In 2000, Lincoln became one of the first 27 communities to receive this special designation.
• Over 120 million people live in a Tree City USA.

Tree City USA Standards

• A Tree Board or Forestry Department
• A Tree Care Ordinance
• A Community Forestry Program With an Annual Budget of at Least $2 Per Capita
• An Arbor Proclamation and Observance

Tree City USA Benefits

1. Encourages better care of community forests.
2. Touches the lives of people within the community who benefit daily from cleaner air, shadier streets, and aesthetic beauty that healthy, well-managed urban forests provide.
3. Recognizes and rewards communities for annual advancements in urban forestry practices.
4. Increases public awareness of the many social, economical and environmental benefits urban forestry practices.
5. Provides education to improve current urban forestry practices.
6. Builds cooperation between public and private sectors to effectively manage urban forests.
7. Encourages, supports, and strengthens effective urban forestry programs in diverse communities nationwide.
8. Can make a strong contribution to a community’s pride.
9. Serves as a blueprint for planting and maintaining a community’s trees.
10. Puts people in touch with other communities and resources that can help them improve their program.
11. Brings solid benefits to a community such as helping to gain financial support for tree projects and contributing to safer and healthier urban forests.
12. Helps present the kind of image that most citizens want to have for the place they live or conduct business.
13. Tells visitors, through signage, that here is a community that cares about its environment.
14. Sometimes gives preference over other communities when allocations of grant money are made for trees or forestry programs.
15. Provides a way to reach large numbers of people with information about tree care.

City of Lincoln, Nebraska
Per Capita Expenditure For Municipal Tree Care
Forestry Section Annual Budget

Budget Year	Forestry Section Expended Budget	U.S. Census Bureau Estimated Lincoln Population	Per Capita Expended
FY 2003-04	$1,080,008	237,551	$4.55
FY2004-05	$1,110,651	239,050	$4.63 (>2 % increase)
FY2005-06	$1,108,308	242,676	$4.58 (<<1 % decrease)
FY2006-07	$1,076,094	245,358	$4.39 (<4 % decrease)
FY2007-08	$1,039,077	248,744	$4.18 (<4 % decrease)