The Arbor Day Foundation this month named the University of Mary Washington a 2017 Tree Campus USA.
This marks the third consecutive year UMW has earned the recognition, awarded to colleges and universities that promote healthy trees and engage their communities in the spirit of conservation.
Only six Virginia schools made the cut, meeting the five core standards on which the honor is based:
- maintaining a campus that promotes conservation
- engaging students by keeping a tree advisory committee
- developing a campus tree-care plan
- dedicating annual expenditures for its campus tree program
- implementing an Arbor Day observance and student service-learning project
The Arbor Day Foundation believes in supporting institutions such as Mary Washington – home to more than 500 trees, including those deemed heritage trees – for their sustainability initiatives and “diligence in improving the environment and quality of life.”
UMW’s Tree Fredericksburg initiative enlisted the help of 45 students to plant trees on campus and around the Fredericksburg community. Students, faculty and staff also began a new project using GIS mapping to inventory the campus’s trees.
Plant facilities at UMW include a greenhouse with more than 15 types of plants, an herbarium that preserves about 5,000 plant specimens and a phytotron, all housed at the Jepson Science Center. In addition, the President’s Council on Sustainability makes recommendations and develops strategies to promote sustainability.
For more information about the Arbor Day Foundation and its Tree Campus USA program, visit arborday.org/TreeCampusUSA. More information about the President’s Council on Sustainability can be found at http://sustainability.umw.edu/programs/pcs/.
