Northwest, which earned Tree Campus status for the seventh consecutive year, again received support from Missouri Department of Conservation through a grant award to maintain and enhance its tree collection. (Photo by Todd Weddle/Northwest Missouri State University)

A commitment to effective urban forest management recently earned Northwest Missouri State University recognition as a Tree Campus USA for the seventh consecutive year along with a state grant award to maintain and enhance the Missouri Arboretum.

Tree Campus USA is a national program created in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation to honor colleges and universities for promoting healthy trees and engaging students and staff in conservation goals.

Northwest achieved the designation by meeting Tree Campus USA’s five core standards for effective campus forest management, which include maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and student service-learning projects.

Additionally, for the third consecutive year, Northwest was a recipient of a Tree Resource Improvement and Maintenance (TRIM) grant award from the Missouri Department of Conservation. The University received $10,000 to invest in improving the health and sustainability of the Missouri Arboretum while enhancing the landscape surrounding the Dean L. Hubbard Center for Innovation.

Northwest arborists removed two hazardous trees, pruned several others and planted 30 trees of various types near the Hubbard Center.  

The Missouri state legislature designated the Northwest campus as the Missouri Arboretum in 1993. In 2018, the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and the Morton Arboretum granted the Missouri Arboretum at Northwest a Level II accreditation for achieving standards and professional practices outlined by its global initiative. Today, the campus is home to more than 1,700 trees and more than 160 species cultivated from throughout the world, including an overcup oak, a white fringetree and an American yellowwood that are recognized as three of the largest trees of their kind in the state.

The University’s legacy of caring for trees and developing its lush landscape dates back to nearly 50 years before the institution’s founding in 1905. About 85 acres of the 330-acre campus were originally part of a tree farm and nursery established by Thomas Gaunt in 1857. The Gaunt home now serves as a residence for the University president and his family.

The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit conservation and education organization with a mission to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees.

“Tree Campuses and their students set examples for not only their student bodies but the surrounding communities showcasing how trees create a healthier environment,” Dan Lambe, the president of the Arbor Day Foundation, said. “Because of Northwest Missouri State University's participation air will be purer, water cleaner and your students and faculty will be surrounded by the shade and beauty the trees provide.”

For more information about the Missouri Arboretum, visit www.nwmissouri.edu/arboretum/.
For more information about the Tree Campus USA program, visit arborday.org/TreeCampusUSA.