Hillsboro was one of 113 Kansas communities to achieve the recognition this year. To qualify as a Tree City USA, a community must designate a tree board or department by municipal ordinance, have an annual budget of $2 per capita and participate in Arbor Day with a proclamation and tree-planting ceremony. Collectively, the Tree City USA communities spent more than $12.1 million in 2007 managing the Kansas community forest by planting more than 13,009 trees, pruning 78,623 and removing more than 8,852 dead or defective trees, according to Tim McDonnell, coordinator of the KFS Community Forestry Program. Research indicates that the Kansas? community forestry is at risk: one tree is being planted for every four removed.
Hillsboro is ?Tree City? for 13th year
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Mayor Delores Dalke accepts the plaque recognizing Hillsboro as a ?Tree City USA? from Ray Aslin, state forester with the Kansas Forest Service. The presentation was made by the KFS and the National Arbor Day Foundation March 26 in Manhattan.
