April 10, 2025 |City of Lynn, City Services, Lynn Tree Committee, News, Urban Forestry

Lynn earns Tree City USA designation and Growth Award from Arbor Day Foundation

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The City has been named a 2024 Tree City USA and selected for a Growth Award by the Arbor Day Foundation, in recognition of its commitment to plant, grow, and maintain trees to benefit the community.

While this is the 35^th year Lynn has earned the Tree City USA designation, it marks the first Growth Award, which includes more criteria to be eligible to receive it. In fact, being designated as a Tree City USA is a minimum requirement, according to Erica Holm, Lynn’s Urban Forestry Fellow.

“The Growth Award is for outstanding tree care and community engagement,” said Holm, noting that a Growth Award nomination earns credits for building an urban forestry team, taking inventory of existing trees, performing the work of increasing the urban canopy, and implementing community frameworks for a successful urban forestry program.

Holm, who started in June 2024 as Lynn’s first Urban Forestry Fellow with grant money obtained through the Arbor Day Foundation in partnership with the USDA Forest Service, said there were 32 trees planted last fall, with a plan to plant at least 120 more over the next 2½ years. There was also an extensive tree health survey conducted, and a Liberty Tree Day Celebration was held in August.

“We have gotten a lot done,” said Holm, who is responsible for ramping up a program to improve the management, care, and preservation of trees in the City.

“Receiving the Growth Award underscores Lynn’s commitment to urban forestry and ensuring a greener future for all of us,” said Mayor Jared C. Nicholson. “Our current initiatives have been so successful because of the collaborative efforts across the City and our community’s support of growing and caring for our trees.”

Other initiatives include a website, new tree request form, formation of the Lynn Tree Committee (an advisory group open to the public), and the hiring of a student co-op worker over the winter. There was also an extensive cleanup of Lynn Woods after a serious wildland fire last fall.

“Even being in Lynn just since June 2024, I’ve seen how much the community benefits from and values the work of urban forestry. With our first Growth Award, we’re claiming the well-deserved recognition for our DPW’s consistent effort to increase tree care. We’re showing how we want to work together across departments, but really across the City of Lynn, to improve the urban forest and take care of trees (and each other).”

Erica Holm, Lynn’s Urban Forestry Fellow.

The Arbor Day Foundation is a global nonprofit with a mission to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees. Its network of more than a million supporters and partners has helped the organization plant more than 500 million trees in forests and communities across more than 60 countries. Since 1976, the Tree City USA program has recognized cities and towns that leverage urban forestry to enhance the livability and sustainability of their local area.

Trees are proven to help mitigate the urban heat island effect, reduce stormwater runoff, improve air quality, and boost mental and physical health. When the right trees are planted in the right places, they can also reduce traffic noise, increase property values, and lower energy costs for homeowners.  

To earn Tree City USA recognition, a city must uphold four core standards including maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry, and participating in an Arbor Day celebration. Lynn spent $4.20 per capita last year.

“As a member of the City of Lynn Tree Committee I have been excited to learn so much about the many benefits trees give us,” said Susan H. Brown. “Improved air quality,  reduced storm runoff, shade, cooler air during the rising heat, improved physical and mental health,  and of course beauty. It has been wonderful to be part of efforts to bring young trees to many parts of the city. 

The Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA program is operated in partnership with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Service.  To learn more about the program or how to apply, visit arborday.org.

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