Angelina Beautiful/Clean (AB/C) and the Texas A&M Forest Service was honored to present the City of Lufkin recognition for celebrating 27 years as a Tree City USA. Mayor, Bob Brown, and city council members accepted the commemoration at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. The Arbor Day Foundation honors cities that have a commitment towards effective urban forest management by meeting four core requirements: an active tree board/department, a tree-care ordinance, and annual community forestry budget and an Arbor Day observance.
More than 135,000,000 people living in more than 3,400 towns and cities benefit from cleaner air, shade, lower energy costs, and storm water control through the vital urban forest management framework provided by the Tree City USA community improvement program. As the weather starts to warm up, studies indicate that as few as three additional trees planted around each building in the United States could save $2 billion annually in energy costs.
“Everyone benefits when elected officials, volunteers and committed citizens in communities like Lufkin make smart investments in urban forests,” said Matt Harris, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Trees bring shade to our homes and beauty to our neighborhoods, along with numerous economic, social and environmental benefits. We congratulate Lufkin on its 27 years of commitment to this program.”
“This year there are only 85 cities in all of Texas that receive this great honor of being named a Tree City USA,” said Jennifer La Corte, AB/C Executive Director. “Lufkin is in the top ranks of that list alongside cities like Fort Worth and Houston in celebrating 27 years or more with this distinction.”
Angelina Beautiful/Clean has a mission to educate and empower East Texans to take responsibility for enhancing their community environment and serves Angelina County to help make it a cleaner, greener place to live, work and play.
For more information on this or any other Angelina Beautiful/Clean program, please contact La Corte at 936-63CLEAN (936-632-5326) or visit angelinabeautifulclean.org.
