The Friends of the Hampton Tree Board were awarded with the Tree City USA Award and the Tree City USA Growth Award earlier this month during the Urban Forestry Awards luncheon at the FFA Enrichment Center on the DMACC campus in Ankeny.
Dick Lukensmeyer is a member of the Friends of the Hampton Tree Board and tells RadioOnTheGo News the luncheon recognizes several cities each year that demonstrate both the importance of maintaining trees and planting new trees in their communities.
“The purpose of this luncheon is to award folks who are going out and making special efforts through education, through building partnerships and planting trees, maintaining of trees, and also planning and management of the future of what’s coming. Dealing with the new pests as they come up. The emerald ash borer, everybody knows what an emerald ash borer is now, but a few years ago, we didn’t. We’ve been watching it come and it’s been devastating, but our award this year, the growth award, was because of the efforts that we’ve made local here. Seven of our tree board members went to the luncheon, were recognized. But Hampton was one of 25 cities that was recognized as putting extra efforts, education, and partnerships in tree growing.”
Efforts continue in restoring Hampton’s tree canopy as a result of the emerald ash borer and recent severe weather events. Randy Sanders, another member of the tree board, says they are teaching the public to plant a diversity of trees as part of their tree-line street program.
“No more (planting) all the same kinds of trees in a row. You get four trees. We’re going to recommend you get four different kinds of trees. And then we will assist you with where to plant the trees, what varieties would work best. Then we do the one call with the city and get everything squared away and then trees get planted in. It’s just a great way. The trees could go into the right of ways. They also go in people’s yards. And we’ve also had a lot of farmsteads now because they’ve also lost ash trees and they’re not sure what to plant. We’re recommending a lot of these good growing trees to plant out on the farm places and it’s really worked well. So 50 trees that we’re going to plant this spring and they’re all sold out.”
As Sanders stated, all trees have been spoken for this spring, but adds the board is looking to purchase more trees to continue the program this fall.
Pictured from left to right: Michelle Beisker (CEO of Trees Forever), Jim Garrett, Mel Brown, Craig Semler, Patti Walker, Rick Rieken, Dick Lukensmeyer and Randy Sanders during the Urban and Community Forestry Awards luncheon in Ankeny earlier this month.
