Countywide : 4 Cities Honored by State Forestry Unit

Four Orange County cities--Anaheim, Fullerton, Irvine and Newport Beach--have been awarded the Tree City, U.S.A. designation by the California Department of Forestry for their efforts “in the care and conservation” of trees.

According to Jack Brooks, the park and tree maintenance superintendent for Newport Beach, four standards must be met before a community can be honored as a tree city:

There must be a municipal tree ordinance protecting the trees on public land; the city must have established a tree board or committee dedicated to the conservation and improvement of a city’s urban forest--trees that are planted within city limits; the city must devote $2 annually per resident toward tree maintenance, and Arbor Day must be commemorated by official tree-planting ceremonies.