For the thirty-first year in a row, Manitowoc has been named a Tree City USA community by the National Arbor Day Foundation to honor its commitment to a community forest.

The National Arbor Day Foundation sponsors the Tree City USA program in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Service.

To receive this recognition the City of Manitowoc had to meet the four criteria established by the National Arbor Day Foundation: 1) have an active tree board; 2) have a tree care ordinance; 3) have a comprehensive community forestry program; and 4) have an Arbor Day observance.

This year’s Arbor Day celebration will take place at 12:15 p.m. on Friday, April 25th, 2014, at the Manitowoc Public Library and is open to the public. A short program with 50 local grade school students will be held and will include a reading of The Lorax followed by a ceremonial tree planting.

Also in conjunction with Arbor Day, the Northeast Wisconsin Offroad Mountain Biking group (NEWOM) will lead an urban forestry tree planting project at 4:00 p.m. on Friday at Camp Vits Park, 97 S Parkview Rd. Trees will be planted along the southern border of the city park entrance. The public is invited to attend. Because parking is not available at Camp Vits or on town roads, participants are asked to park on Custer Street.

For more information regarding these events, please contact the City of Manitowoc Parks Department at 920-686-3580.