Davis has been designated as a Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation. The Arbor Day Foundation sponsors this designation in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters. The purpose of this program is to provide direction, technical assistance, public attention, and national recognition for urban and community forestry programs.
Davis has held this designation for 34 years, only surpassed in California by Burbank and Sacramento (each 35 years). Surprisingly, our neighboring city of Woodland has only held the designation for 12 years. To see examples of why Davis has been a Tree City USA for so long, see the page on our Street Trees.
On Arbor Day, which is usually celebrated in California the week of Luther Burbank's birthday (7 March), but which may be and frequently is celebrated later, in April, there is a celebration at the Davis Farmers Market, at which a Tree City USA banner is presented to the city.
With the elimination of the city's only tree crew by city manager Steve Pinkerton, and the promises of further reductions in staffing, it's possible that the city may no longer meet the criteria for inclusion in the Tree City USA program. Davis can then join the elite ranks of Former Tree Cities USA, with other notables such as Duluth, MN and Allentown, PA.
For more information on the Tree City USA program, see the informational website by the Arbor Day Foundation. Or, to receive a free Tree City USA booklet:
Call (402) 474-5655, Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CST or e-mail your request to [email protected]
So wait a minute... I have a buddy of mine who used to work in the Tree division. West Coast "arborists" or whomever is going to get the replacement contract isn't going to care about the work, and it's going to do a good job (they will actually do the complete opposite). It already took me 3 months to harass the city to come out and cut a tree that was dangerously splitting over a driveway and a major street near where I reside. The trees need to have attention paid to them. We have been trying to get our tree out front trimmed since last summer and they trimmed all the non dangerous branches and left all the mistletoe so now it's basically assured to collapse onto the cars Daubert
