City Manager Jay Stroebel announced today another milestone toward their BP2025 goals of “Beautiful Places.” The City is being honored as a “Tree City USA” community. This is the 18th year the city has been recognized.

“In 2017, the Brooklyn Park community made it clear they want beautiful spaces and quality infrastructure to make Brooklyn Park a unique destination,” said Stroebel. “Our Operations and Maintenance staff have worked tirelessly to make this a reality. The fact that we are receiving this recognition, yet another year proves how serious we are about our goals for 2025.”

A Tree City USA title means communities benefit from an increase in property value, savings on energy costs and a sense of pride in their community.

“Participating in the Tree City USA program each year gives us an opportunity to talk about the values of trees and the importance of tree management,” said Dan Ruiz, operations and maintenance director. “This year the program is focusing on ‘planting trees for clean water.’ We want residents to know that planting trees helps keep our lakes and streams clean by absorbing and filtering pollutants and sediments.”

One of the qualifications to be a “Tree City USA” community is to have a local Arbor Day. This year City Council has proclaimed May as Arbor Month and May 4 as Arbor Day. The city will celebrate with a tree sale May 4. Head to the Brooklyn Park website for more details. The city is also awarded Tree City USA Growth Award, for the 12th year. The award goes to communities who offer a high level of tree care.

The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit, environmental organization of nearly 1 million members. Its mission is to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees.