Triton College Earns Arbor Day Foundation's Tree Campus USA Certification

Triton College has been honored with the 2016 Tree Campus USA® recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management.

Triton College achieved the title by meeting Tree Campus USA's five standards, which include maintaining a tree advisory committee, creating a campus tree-care plan, dedicating annual expenditures for its campus tree program, holding an Arbor Day observance and participating in a student service-learning project. Currently there are 296 campuses across the United States with this recognition.

"It was gratifying to see how so many people across campus pitched in into make this project a success," said Triton College sustainability coordinator Adrian Fisher. "A culture of sustainability is taking root at Triton, and our Tree Campus USA certification is one more example of how that is happening."

Triton's hundred-acre campus functions as a green oasis in a traffic-heavy, densely built-up environment. Triton's Tree Campus USA project was launched in spring 2016 by Kevin Li, Triton College dean of Arts and Sciences. Fisher oversees the project with the help of Triton's Greening the Campus Committee and the Tree Advisory Committee. The latter includes student, faculty and staff representatives, along with a tree expert from the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Ill.

The group took an inventory of Triton's trees and horticulture and biology students participated in service projects. These included working to identify the species of campus trees and performing restoration work in local forest preserves.

"Students are eager to volunteer in their communities and become better stewards of the environment," said Matt Harris, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. "Participating in Tree Campus USA sets a fine example for other colleges and universities, while helping to create a healthier planet for us all."

Tree Campus USA is a national program created in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation to honor colleges and universities for engaging staff and students in conservation goals. The Arbor Day Foundation has helped campuses throughout the country plant thousands of trees, and Tree Campus USA colleges and universities invested more than $46.7 million in campus forest management last year. More information about Triton's sustainability efforts is available at http://www.triton.edu/sustainability/. For information on the Tree Campus USA program visit arborday.org/TreeCampusUSA.