The Arbor Day Foundation has named LSU a 2012 Tree Campus USA University, a designation recognizing the value of the University’s trees and the benefits they provide, said Fred Fellner, assistant director of Landscape Services.
Tree Campus USA is a national program created by the Arbor Day Foundation in 2008 with the goal of honoring colleges for successful campus tree management and for engaging the student body and staff in conservation objectives, according to an LSU Media Relations news release.
The Tree Campus USA title will help the University better manage its urban forest, Fellner said.
The University needed to obtain this designation to get the wheels turning on forming a committee responsible for discussing the planting and removal of trees, how to properly care for the campus’ trees and how these trees fit into the University’s master plan, Fellner said.
“It is like establishing a really good maintenance procedure for your vehicle,” Fellner said.
Fellner said being a Tree Campus USA designee also provides an opportunity to institute a consistent source of funding to care for the trees.
“It helps us to let the management structure and the administrative structure know that we need to be spending money on trees — and we do, but it codifies it a little bit better,” Fellner said.
Fellner said his inspiration to make the University a Tree Campus USA came through the council of Gary Keever, professor in the Department of Horticulture and the graduate program coordinator for Auburn University’s College of Agriculture.
Keever took care of Auburn’s famous Toomer’s Corner Oaks when they were poisoned shortly after Auburn won the BCS National Championship in 2011. Auburn’s poisoned oaks will be removed this month.
At the time of the poisoning incident, Fellner said he and the administration grew concerned that the same thing could happen to LSU’s own majestic oaks. Fellner said Keever told him that the first step toward helping LSU avoid the same issue is to establish the University as a Tree Campus USA.
This title is achieved by meeting the five criteria established by the Arbor Day Foundation: setting up a campus tree advisory committee, developing a campus tree care plan, planning a campus tree program with dedicated annual expenditures, observing Arbor Day and planning a service learning project to support the Tree Campus USA initiative.
The Arbor Day Foundation and Tree Campus USA sponsor, Toyota, invested $23 million in campus forest management in 2012, according to the Arbor Day Foundation website.
“Participating in Tree Campus USA sets a fine example for other colleges and universities, while helping to create a healthier planet for all of us,” said John Rosenow, founder and chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation.
Some schools in the SEC that received the 2011 Tree Campus USA designation include Auburn University, University of Georgia, Texas A&M University, Louisiana State University at Alexandria, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Tulane University and the University of Louisiana Lafayette.
“It is like establishing a really good maintenance procedure for your vehicle.”
