Portland Parks celebrates Arbor Week
March 28, 2012
By David Nguyen
Next month, Portland will mark its 35th year as “Tree City, USA” – only a handful of cities nationwide received this distinguished recognition from the Arbor Day Foundation.
To celebrate, we’ve planned a week full of fun Arbor Week activities beginning Sunday, April 1.
One of the week’s highlights will be the “in the Shadow of Elm” event at the South Park blocks (SW Clay & Park) on Thursday, April 5. From 11:00 am until 1:00, Parks City Nature staff will host informational booths describing the benefits of trees, what the City and partners are doing to help manage and maintain our urban forest, and ways for citizens to become involved. Coffee, tea, cookies and other refreshments will be provided, and the Urban Forestry Crew will offer bucket truck rides to get a squirrel’s-eye-view of the urban forest!
Parks Environmental Education staff will have a “Tree’s Life” interactive display where children of all ages can learn about the life cycle of a tree, from the germination of a seed to the structure of a mature tree to dissecting a rotten log.
Special thanks to the City’s Bureau of Environmental Services, Friends of Trees, Portland State University, Verde, Portland Fruit Tree Project, and the team at Hoyt Arboretum for making this special week possible!