Calvin becomes first college in greater Grand Rapids to be named 'Tree Campus USA'

Calvin College is the first college in Grand Rapids to be named a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation. Tree Campus USA is a national program created in 2008 to honor colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals.

"This is a great recognition with a national organization to show that we care and we have our act together in caring for campus trees," said Speelman, who is the supervisor of the college's landscape operations and a certified arborist. "It certainly shows that not only me, but our students, faculty and administrators respect tree care as well."

Calvin is just the third college in the state of Michigan to earn this distinction (Western Michigan University and the University of Michigan are the other two). To be recognized as a tree campus, the college had to meet Tree Campus USA's five standards for sustainable campus forestry. They include maintaining a tree advisory committee, having a campus tree-care plan, dedicating annual expenditures toward trees, observing Arbor Day and holding service-learning projects related to trees for students.

"A landscape that includes numerous trees contributes many environmental services to a community," said Dave Warners, a biology professor at Calvin. "Besides decreasing energy needs, processing stormwater and enhancing property values and biodiversity, there are some really interesting things coming out in the area of ecopsychology, one being that learning is promoted when there's a healthy natural environment in which the learning takes place."

Warners is one of many members of the Calvin community who has had a hand in helping the college maintain a healthy natural environment on campus. In recent years, he has worked with geography, geology and environmental studies professor Jason Van Horn and their students in creating a tree map, a detailed inventory of all 3,500-plus trees on-campus. See http://gis.calvin.edu/trees/

Warners is also part of the Plaster Creek Stewards, a collaboration of Calvin College faculty, staff and students who work with local schools, churches and community partners in restoring the health and beauty of the Plaster Creek Watershed. Some of their restoration work also includes planting trees.

"This is very consistent with our commitment to stewardship, that we will not only pay attention to the people we are living with, but also to the places where we live and the other creatures with whom we share these places," said Warners.

"Students are eager to volunteer in their communities and become better stewards of the environment," said John Rosenow, founder and 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 all of us."

The Arbor Day Foundation, a nonprofit conservation and education organization of one million members, and Toyota have helped campuses throughout the country plant hundreds of thousands of trees, and Tree Campus USA colleges and universities invested $23 million in campus forest management last year. More information about the program is available at arborday.org/TreeCampusUSA.

Contact Dave Warners at 616-526-6820 or Sean Barry with the Arbor Day Foundation at 402-473-9563.

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Received on Fri Mar 8 09:32:02 2013