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To celebrate Florida’s Arbor Day on Friday, Jan. 20, the Florida Forest Service will join communities throughout the state in several tree planting projects, tree seedling giveaways and forestry education activities to highlight the benefits of trees. Florida’s Arbor Day is held each year on the third Friday in January. A list of Florida’s Arbor Day festivities in your area can be found on the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ events calendar.
“Florida’s Arbor Day is about highlighting the countless ways trees make Florida a special place to live,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam. “I am proud of our forest rangers who not only maintain 1 million acres throughout Florida’s 37 state forests, but also educate communities about the importance of trees.”
In Florida, 173 communities have taken a proactive role managing trees and are recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as official Tree City USA communities.
“The Tree City USA program is a great way for communities, large or small, to come together to manage and expand their public trees,” said Jim Karels, Florida State Forester. “This Arbor Day, we encourage all Florida communities to work with their local county forester to become official Tree City USA communities.”
Communities can achieve Tree City USA status by meeting four core standards of sound urban forestry management, including: maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry and celebrating Arbor Day.
The Florida Forest Service, a division of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, manages more than 1 million acres of state forests and provides forest management assistance on more than 17 million acres of private and community forests. The Florida Forest Service is also responsible for protecting homes, forestland and natural resources from the devastating effects of wildfire on more than 26 million acres. Learn more at FloridaForestService.com.
For more information about the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, visit FreshFromFlorida.com