The City of Port St. Lucie has again received national and international recognition for its efforts to develop and maintain a robust urban forest landscape.
This marks the 20th consecutive year Port St. Lucie has earned the Tree City USA Award and the 19th year in a row receiving the Tree City USA Growth Award, which recognizes cities nationwide for effective urban forest management and high achievement in municipal tree programs. It is also the third consecutive year Port St. Lucie received international designation as one of only 170 Tree Cities of the World.
Tree City USA is a partnership between the Arbor Day Foundation, USDA Forest Service and National Association of State Foresters, which recognizes cities committed to ensuring that urban forests and trees are properly maintained, sustainably managed and celebrated. Tree Cities of the World is a collaboration between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Arbor Day Foundation.
To receive the international Tree Cities of the World designation, the City met five core standards including:
- Establishing responsibility for the care of trees
- Setting rules for managing trees
- Having an updated inventory of local trees resources
- Allocating resources for tree management
- Holding an annual celebration about trees to educate local residents
The City has planted more than 75,000 trees as part of the Port St. Lucie Tree Challenge and approximately 14,000 trees have been distributed since 2004 through the Keep Port St. Lucie Beautiful Tree Giveaway program.