Politics & Government
Plenty of Shade in Menomonee Falls
The village was recognized recently as a Tree City USA for the 12th consecutive year. Hundreds of trees were planted in Falls over the past five years.
Menomonee Falls was recognized as a Tree City USA for the 12th consecutive year for its tree programs in 2011. The village also received the Tree City USA Growth Award for the second year in a row.
Both of these awards are sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation, USDA Forest Service and National Association of State Foresters.
The requirements to become a Tree City USA include having a tree or park board, tree care ordinance, a forestry budget of at least $2 per capita and an Arbor Day observance. About 3,500 cities participated in the program for 2011.
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About 500 cities received the Growth Award for 2011. The award requires a city to have been a Tree City for two straight years, maintain or increase the community forestry budget and have additional programs that encourage urban tree management. Menomonee Falls received double the points needed in additional programs to receive the award.
One such program is the annual tree seedling sale, which takes place in April. 2012 was its third and biggest year with 10,000 seedlings being sold.
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“The main reason for the sale is to help regenerate forest,” Nancy Greifenhagen of Stormwater Utilities said. “Menomonee Falls is mainly aging forest. There just aren’t many young trees.”
She said these new trees help soak up water from storm runoff.
Another tree program was the annual Arbor Day proclamation and tree planting. This year, a pear tree was planted in front of the library.
Arlyn Johnson, the assistant village manager and director of public works, cited shade, production of oxygen and aesthetic value as reasons to care for trees in the community.
“They give a nice feel when you come into town,” he said.
He said the village has planted hundreds of trees in the past five years. Last year 80 trees were planted along the river in Rotary Park and 100 in Lime Kiln. As a part of a recent project, the village has placed green water bags around the new trees to water deeper into the roots and increase the chance of survival.
Sean Barry of the Arbor Day Foundation added energy savings to the list of benefits from having trees in a community during a phone interview. He said the Tree City USA program was launched in 1976 to help cities better manage their trees.
“What they had before then was haphazard and ineffective,” he said. “This helps give communities a baseline and a starting point for urban tree management.”