Klamath Falls marks 20-year milestone as Tree City USA community

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – This year Klamath Falls is marking 20 years as a Tree City USA community. ODF administers the Tree City USA program in Oregon for the national Arbor Day Foundation. ODF Community Assistance Forester Brittany Oxford explains that cities and towns need to meet four criteria to become a Tree City USA: 

1. Maintain a tree board or department
2. Have a community tree ordinance
3. Spend at least $2 per capita on urban forestry
4. Celebrate Arbor Day

Klamath Falls is also one of three dozen Oregon cities that has planted a peace tree, one grown from the seeds of a ginkgo tree that survived the atom bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. Oxford said, “In fact, Klamath Falls is one of only a handful of Oregon cities to actually have two Hiroshima peace trees, two ginkgos planted at the high school.”

Oxford said cities benefit from sustained support of their urban forestry programs. “Trees are a long-term investment. Keeping engaged with maintenance and replacement tree plantings can help a community increase its tree canopy and keep that  urban forest healthy, helping make  that community more climate resilient,” she said.

Other cities marking milestone years include:

• Rogue River – 40 years
• Grants Pass – 35 years
• Madras – 30 years
• Coburg, Seaside and Wilsonville – 25 years
• Bend – 20 years
• Cannon Beach, Dallas, Gresham and Lincoln City – 15 years
• Central Point – 10 years
• Hillsboro and Umatilla – 5 years