Community Corner
Menomonee Falls Recognized as a Leafy Community
Village excels in educational literature distribution, publicity, and landscaping policies.
The Village of Menomonee Falls was awarded the Tree City USA Growth Award from the Arbor Day Foundation, in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Service for the year of 2010. A plaque was presented at the last week's Village Board meeting.
“Trees enhance our quality of life, they help clean the air, provide shade and an urban cooling effect,” said Arlyn Johnson, assistant village manager.
In addition, for the 11th year in a row, they received the Tree City Status Award from the National Arbor Day Foundation.
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Mark Derowitsch, the public relations manager for the Arbor Day Foundation, explained why the Foundation has been recognizing “Tree Cities” since 1976, and giving Growth Awards since 1994.
“The Foundation wanted to recognize and highlight cities that had well-established plans to manage urban forests, and went above and beyond to protect our trees and plant new ones,” Derowitsch said.
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According to the Foundation’s website, receiving a Tree City Award creates a framework for action, education, a positive public image, and citizen pride. There are more than 3,400 communities who have the Tree City USA designation, with 135 million people living in those communities.
More than 500 communities received a Growth Award for excelling in education and public relations, partnerships, planning and management, and tree planting and maintenance.
Johnson believes it is important to promote tree care in Menomonee Falls.
“This award increases the pride and satisfaction of citizens in Menomonee Falls as a hometown,” Johnson said.
The Village earned points toward the Growth Award with their Tree Seedling and Prairie Seed Sale May 6 to 7, which raised awareness of the benefits of trees and natural landscaping. The was held on Feb. 25 to 26 to educate the community about ways to help clean up stormwater pollution and improve the water quality of the local rivers.
The work is not over, however.
“We are currently working to meet the requirements for the Tree City and Growth Awards for 2011, and we will submit our application later this year,” Johnson said.
