The Arbor Day Foundation has honored Kent State University as a 2010 Tree Campus USA University for its dedication to campus forestry management and environmental stewardship. This is the third consecutive year Kent State has been named a Tree Campus USA University.

"Kent State has long had a dedication to urban forestry issues at the university," says Heather White, manager of Campus Environment and Operations at Kent State.

Kent State met the required five core standards of tree care and community engagement in order to receive Tree Campus USA status. Those standards are establishing a campus tree advisory committee, evidence of a campus tree-care plan, verification of dedicated annual expenditures on the campus tree-care plan, involvement in an Arbor Day observance and the institution of a service-learning project aimed at engaging the student body.

Tree Campus USA, a national program launched in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation, honors colleges and universities and the leaders of the campus and surrounding communities for promoting healthy urban forest management and engaging the campus community in environmental stewardship. During the first year of the program, Kent State was one of 29 schools to receive the initial designation.

"Ohio has been a national leader in urban forestry for several decades," says Drew Todd, state urban forestry coordinator from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. "With Kent State University as a model, we hope to be a leader in Tree Campus USA as well."

The Arbor Day Foundation launched Tree Campus USA in the fall of 2008 by planting trees at nine college campuses throughout the United States. Currently, Tree Campus USA has planted more than 2,100 trees at 28 different colleges and universities throughout the country.

"We look forward to continuing our commitment and being named Tree Campus USA for years to come," White says.

More information about the Tree Campus USA program is available at www.arborday.org/TreeCampusUSA or www.arbordaynow.org.

The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit conservation organization of nearly one million members, with a mission to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees. More information on the foundation and its programs can be found at www.arborday.org.