Kellogg celebrates 21 years as Tree City, USA!

KELLOGG — For the 21st consecutive year, Kellogg has been named as a Tree City, USA, by the Arbor Day Foundation.

With last Friday being Arbor Day, the Kellogg city superintendent Craig Lewis decided to plant a tree in downtown Kellogg’s residential area on Mullan Avenue.

“The City of Kellogg should really be proud of this achievement,” Lewis said. “This award is really a positive for our community and we are going to continue to be a part of this program for as long as we can.”

Kellogg is also a former recipient of the Growth Award.

The Growth Award highlights innovative programs and projects as well as increased commitment of resources for urban forestry as well as provides an opportunity to share new ideas and successes across the country.

Kellogg achieved the recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements: having a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita, and having an Arbor Day observance.

Kellogg mayor Mac Pooler decided to mark the occasion with a proclamation:

WHEREAS, In 1872 J. Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees; and

WHEREAS, the holiday, called Arbor Day, was first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska; and

WHEREAS, Arbor Day is now observed throughout the nation and the world; and

WHEREAS, trees can reduce the erosion of our precious topsoil by wind and water, lower our heating and cooling costs, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce oxygen, and provide habitat for wildlife; and

WHEREAS, trees are a renewable resource giving us paper, wood for our homes, fuel for our fires and countless other wood products; and

WHEREAS, trees in our city increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas, and beautify our community; and

WHEREAS, trees, wherever they are planted, are a source of joy and spiritual renewal.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Mac Pooler, Mayor of the City of Kellogg, Idaho, do hereby proclaim April 26, 2019 as Arbor Day in the City of Kellogg, and urge all citizens to celebrate Arbor Day and to support efforts to protect our trees and woodlands; and

FURTHER, I urge all citizens to plant trees to gladden the heart and promote the well-being of this and future generations.

DATED this 10th day of April 2019.

Mac Pooler, mayor.

Trees provide multiple benefits to a community when properly planted and maintained.

They can help improve the visual appeal of a neighborhood, increase property values, reduce home cooling costs, remove air pollutants and provide wildlife habitat among many other benefits.

For more information on the Arbor Day Foundation, or to read more about the benefits of being a designated Tree City, USA, please visit www.arborday.org.