Three new trees will be planted on the Capitol Campus as part of a public Urban Forestry Month celebration event planned for noon, Oct. 3 at the corner of 11th Avenue and Franklin Street, across the street from the Natural Resources Building.

Gov. Jay Inslee has proclaimed October to be Urban and Community Forestry Month in Washington, encouraging citizens to plant trees in their communities to help improve air and water quality, reduce the impacts of climate change, cut energy use and boost overall community livability.

The Oct. 3 event, which is open to the public, is being organized by the Washington state departments of Natural Resources and Enterprise Services, and the city of Olympia.

Three new trees will be added to the planting strip between 11th Avenue and the adjacent sidewalk as part of the celebration. Puget Sound Energy (PSE) will purchase the trees. Enterprise Services' Capitol Campus grounds staff will plant and maintain the trees.

This event is also the city of Olympia's annual Arbor Day celebration. The city has a long tradition of promoting the planting of site-appropriate trees. For 21 consecutive years, the National Arbor Day Foundation has designated Olympia as a "Tree City USA" community in recognition of the city's commitment to planting and caring for its public trees.

The new trees replace three declining black locust trees that Enterprise Services had removed from the site earlier this summer with help from PSE. The locust trees were removed because branches were continuously growing into overhead power lines, requiring aggressive pruning to maintain clearance. Pruning for line clearance accelerated the trees' decline. Enterprise Services provided some of the locust wood to the Cedar Creek Correctional Center for constructing a bench that will be returned to the location later this fall.

The Department of Natural Resources' Urban and Community Forestry Program provides technical, educational and financial assistance to Washington's cities, towns, counties, non-profit organizations and associations about the economic, environmental, psychological and aesthetic benefits of trees.

The Department of Enterprise Services maintains the 486-acre Capitol Campus, which includes caring for the more than 300 trees that grow there.

For more information:

Jim Erskine, (360) 407-9212
jim.erskine@des.wa.gov

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