The first two of 50 trees to be planted throughout Hattiesburg in 2019 received a new home Feb. 8 in honor of Arbor Day during a short ceremony at Woodley Elementary School.
Mayor Toby Barker started the event by reading a proclamation to several students about the importance of Arbor Day before awarding the proclamation to Woodley principal Felicia Morris. City arborist Andy Parker, along with the city’s tree crew, planted two Live Oaks at the far side of the school’s playground while explaining to students the roles of trees in the environment.
“It’s really about continuing to invest in the green space that we have here in Hattiesburg – we’ve been a Tree City USA (community) for 26 years,” Barker said. “So teaching the next generation to appreciate that is a core value for us.”
Hattiesburg is one of more than 3,400 communities across the nation that is designated a Tree City USA community, as it meets four criteria laid out by the Arbor Day Foundation: the city maintains a tree or board department, has a community tree ordinance, spends at least $2 per capita on urban forestry and celebrates Arbor Day.
As part of that designation, Hattiesburg’s tree crew will plant 48 more trees throughout the city this year: 18 more Live Oaks, 10 Willow Oaks, 10 Overcup Oaks and 10 Crepe Myrtles. City officials have planned 13 sites for those trees, including Chain Airport, San Antonio Street, North 12th Avenue, Kamper Park and Jaycee Park.
“The functionality of this, obviously, is that (the trees) look good, they help the green space, they filter storm water and they create shade in a very hot area,” Barker said. “So the more that we can get into our neighborhoods, the better quality of life for our city.”
Officials expect to start planting the remaining trees as soon as possible.
“We try to hit one school a year, and then we move around,” Parker said. “So … we’re just going to see if we can do it in-house.
“We’ll maybe do something within the next couple of months, and maybe make it a once-a-month deal. We try to move this around to each school, so we’ve planted trees at just about every school since I’ve been doing this.”
This week is being celebrated as Tree Planting Week in Mississippi, as a result of Gov. Phil Bryant’s Arbor Day/Tree Planting Week Proclamation. Arbor Day was first observed in 1872 in Nebraska, with the first official Arbor Day Celebration being held in 1882 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mississippi adopted Arbor Day as an official day of observance in 1926. It is celebrated in the Magnolia State annually on the second Friday in February.
