Honors Included Greening Grant Award, Tree City USA
Brian Coddington, Communications Director, 509.625.6740
Friday, April 24, 2015 at Noon
Mayor David Condon proclaimed Friday Arbor Day in Spokane at the site where volunteers participated in an Arbor Day tree planting event near the Sandifur Bridge. The event also included numerous honors and awards for Spokane’s neighborhoods, local organizations, and the City of Spokane for efforts to plant trees.
“Arbor Day is an important observance every year, and takes on special significance for Spokane right now,” said Mayor Condon. “We continue our push to get to a cleaner river faster, and trees are, of course, a huge part of that effort.”
At the proclamation, the Arbor Day Foundation recognized Spokane with a Tree City USA designation for the 12th consecutive year.
“The award really speaks to the incredible dedication and work Urban Forestry, Parks and Recreation, Neighborhood Services, and other City departments continue to do,” Condon added.
Forest Spokane, an initiative to plant 10,000 new trees in Spokane by 2016, has been a big part of the City’s plans to mitigate stormwater. On Friday, six Spokane neighborhoods and two organizations were awarded for their efforts toward that initiative through last year’s Greening Neighborhoods Grants. The grants were awarded to neighborhoods for projects to plant trees, perennials, and other vegetation through volunteer events. The Lincoln Heights neighborhood was announced as the winner of the 2014 Greening Neighborhoods Grant Contest based on how its project incorporated volunteerism and its impact to the neighborhood community and sustainability. The neighborhoods and partnering organizations honored with a gold leaf on the Tree of Life at City Hall for planting three or more trees through Greening Grants were:
Gold leaves were also awarded to Spokane Ponderosa and Home Fires Nursery and Lanscape for their contributions to tree planting in Spokane and their support of the Forest Spokane Initiative.
Volunteer events from last year’s round of Greening Neighborhoods Grants are underway this spring. The Office of Neighborhood Services (ONS) is also accepting applications for this year’s round of Greening Neighborhood Grants through June 30.
