The Arbor Day Foundation is the world鈥檚 largest membership nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees. Its Tree Campus Higher 成人直播 program began in 2008 to encourage colleges and universities to plant trees on their campuses.

鈥淎s chair of UofL鈥檚 Campus Tree Advisory Committee, I know just how passionate our staff, faculty, and students are about protecting, diversifying, expanding, and learning from the trees on our campuses,鈥� said Justin Mog, Assistant to the Provost for Sustainability Initiatives.

Trees on campus and in urban spaces can lower energy costs by providing shade cover, cleaner air and water, and green spaces for students and faculty. In addition, trees improve students’ mental and cognitive health, provide an appealing aesthetic for campuses, and create shaded areas for studying and gathering.

“Trees not only play a vital role in the environment but also in our daily lives,鈥� said Dan Lambe, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. 鈥淗aving trees on college and university campuses is a great way to show a commitment to students and faculty鈥檚 overall wellbeing.鈥�

The Tree Campus Higher 成人直播 program honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and engaging staff and students in conservation goals. UofL achieved the distinction by meeting Tree Campus Higher 成人直播鈥檚 five standards, including maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and student service-learning project.

Currently, there are 411聽campuses across the United States with this recognition. More information about the program is available at .

UofL boasts more than . The trees represent more than 130 species, including many native to the region. Among them are ash, dogwood, tulip poplar (the Kentucky state tree), oak, persimmon, magnolia and elm, including a rare American elm.听

Tree Campus USA is a national program launched in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation that honors colleges and universities for promoting healthy trees and engaging students and staff in the spirit of conservation. UofL was first recognized in 2010 for its tree care plan.听

To obtain this distinction, UofL met the five core standards for an effective campus forest management:聽

• Establishment of a tree advisory committee
• Evidence of a campus tree-care plan
• Dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program
• An Arbor Day observance
• Sponsorship of student service learning projects

UofL’s Arbor Day Celebration 2020 is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at various locations across both the Belknap and HSC campuses. .听

To read UofL’s 12-page tree care plan, .听

The emerald ash borer, an invasive green beetle from Northeast Asia, has destroyed tens of millions of ash trees since it first appeared in the U.S. in 2002. It threatens to kill most of the 8.7 billion ash trees as it spreads throughout North America.听

But 聽is taking steps to ensure that the 80-some ash trees on campus are safe for generations to come.

Every two years, Grounds contracts with Limbwalker Tree Service to inoculate ash trees with an insecticide that prevents the ash borer larvae from burrowing into their bark.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 very effective,鈥� said Greg Schetler, grounds superintendent who oversees campus trees.

Those walking around campus recently may have seen trees marked for treatment with purple ribbons. Limbwalker injects each tree with an IV-like apparatus in the morning, when trees move moisture from roots to leaves.

The university began the bi-annual treatments in 2010, when the beetle first appeared in the region.

鈥淲e were a little ahead of the curve,鈥� Schetler said.

Since then, campus has lost a few ash trees from construction and natural death, but none to ash borers.

As stipulated in , Grounds strives to safeguard existing trees and replace ones that die or are removed. There are more than 2,500 trees on the 309-acre Belknap Campus representing more than 130 species, many of them native to the region.

Ash is an important species in this collection, as most are mature trees with large canopies in prominent areas.听聽

Treating the trees makes financial sense as well, Schetler said. Once聽trees are infested, they typically die within three years. Removing that many dead trees on campus would cost tens of thousands of dollars.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 really something the university should be proud of,鈥� Schetler said. 鈥淥ur trees are part of the identity of Belknap Campus. People may not know what Belknap has to offer, but you won鈥檛 forget it once you鈥檙e here. It鈥檚 a nice place to be.鈥�

Justin Mog, Assistant to the Provost for , agrees.

鈥淧rotecting our native ash trees from this invasive exotic pest is emblematic of why by the Arbor Day Foundation for nine years running,鈥� he said. 鈥淎fter this beetle ravages our forests, UofL may wind up having one of the largest remaining live stands of ash trees in the region. In that sense, we are preserving Kentucky鈥檚 natural heritage and cultural heritage as white ash is the wood used to make Louisville Slugger baseball bats.鈥�

Grounds also treats Belknap鈥檚 three elm trees, a species devastated by Dutch elm disease in the last century.

And, the university recently was gifted three American chestnut trees that have been cross-bred with Chinese chestnut trees. There鈥檚 hope these hybrids will be resistant to the blight that drove American chestnuts into extinction. Before the 1900s, the American chestnut was the predominant tree species in eastern forests. Schetler said he hasn鈥檛 decided yet where to put the chestnut saplings on campus. 聽

鈥淎t some point, we鈥檒l likely be one of the few pieces of property that have American elm, American ash and the hybrid American chestnut,鈥� he said.听

Those who would like to learn more about UofL’s trees may pickup a map to take a at the .听