Pradeep Hatcher, Public Information Assistant, No Phone Number Available
Friday, April 24, 2015 at 2:56 p.m.
Mayor Condon proclaimed Friday Arbor Day in Spokane as dozens of volunteers planted seedlings along the Spokane River near the Sandifur Bridge.
Arbor Day is always an important observance, but this year's edition takes on special significance in our community. The City continues its push to clean up the Spokane River and trees are a big part of the effort.
At the proclamation, the Arbor Day Foundation recognized Spokane for the 12th year running as a Tree City USA for its efforts in getting more trees in the ground. In turn, the City honored several neighborhoods and organizations for their contributions and support.
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 a gold leaf on the Tree of Life at City Hall for their efforts toward that initiative through last year's Greening Neighborhoods Grants:
The City also honored Lincoln Heights neighborhood as the 2014 Greening Neighborhoods Grant Contest winner for how its project incorporated volunteerism and impacted the neighborhood community. The neighborhood now gets an additional Greening Grant project worth up to $5,000.
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.
Want to help keep the spirit of Arbor Day alive in Spokane? Take part in Forest Spokane plantings with Urban Forestry and the Office of Neighborhood Services (ONS). The City is accepting applications for the next round of Greening Grants, too. Be sure to check back on our blogs page too see what's happening or find out what plantings are coming up via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Follow us @SpokaneCity.
Happy Arbor Day!
