The City of Billings Parks and Recreation Department would like to invite the public to attend our annual Arbor Day Ceremony at Riverfront Park on Thursday, May 9th, at 12:30pm—rain or shine.
Last year marked Billings 40th consecutive year as a designated “Tree City USA” by the Arbor Day Foundation, and we look forward to many more! Please, join us as Deputy Mayor Mike Boyett accepts our Tree City USA award and we plant a Ceremonial Arbor Day Tree.
The day of celebration will kick off in the morning with educational activities for around 400 fourth grade students from across the city. The students will engage with local and regional professionals in health and environmental education. Activities include nature walks, soil science, tree care, and wildlife education.
The Parks and Recreation Department understands the many benefits that trees provide to our park users and community as a whole. From providing shade to storm water management, urban temperature regulation to increasing property values, trees have a larger impact on our everyday lives than we often recognize. Billings parks are home to over 10,000 trees. Throughout the year, our forestry staff expect to plant hundreds more young trees across city parks.
Recently, the City of Billings was awarded $1 million in U.S. Forest Service grant funds through the Inflation Reduction Act. The award will support the expansion of our urban tree canopy in disadvantaged areas around Billings. Funds will be used to plant new trees, prune existing trees and removing unsafe or unhealthy trees from the area.
Arbor Day History: In Nebraska in 1872, J Sterling Morton proposed the idea of a day to plant trees, “Arbor Day”. On that day, prizes were offered for the county that could plant the most trees properly. One million trees were said to have been planted on that first Arbor Day. By 1882, states all across the country were celebrating Arbor Day. In 2014, Billings Parks and Recreation was recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as having one of the best Arbor Day Celebrations in the country! E5P
Media Contact:
Jake Milliron Community Outreach and Engagement Coordinator [email protected]
