ICC has been honored with a “2021 Tree Campus Higher Education” recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation. The Tree Campus Higher Education program, formerly Tree Campus USA, honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and engaging staff and students in conservation goals.
“When we first heard about this opportunity, we gathered a group together to work on submitting the application,” said David Adams, Vice President for Student Affairs. “We knew, through becoming a Higher Education Tree Campus, it would support efforts to make the campus more livable, healthy and enhance our partnership with the City through their designation as a Tree City USA with the Arbor Day Foundation.”
ICC achieved the title by meeting Tree Campus Higher Education’s 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 a student service-learning project. Currently, there are 403 campuses across the United States with this recognition.
“Being accepted as a Tree Campus by the Arbor Day Foundation is wonderful for our campus and community,” said Bridget Carson, Advisory Committee Co-Chair. “We have a beautiful campus to steward, which gives us opportunities for green space to enjoy for both our campus and our community, campus-as-classroom, and to support and nurture native species. The resources available through the Arbor Day Foundation to help us care for and understand trees on our campus and communicate their benefits will help us responsibly maintain and add to their numbers for years to come.”