NDSU President Dean L. Bresciani and Todd West, associate professor of plant sciences, accepted the 2012 “Tree Celebration of the Year” Trees Award at the Trees Bowl and Awards Ceremony held Sept. 1 at the Fargodome. Nominations were received from across the state and the award winners were recognized by the North Dakota Forest service and NDSU.
NDSU hosted the Tree City/Line/Campus USA event. The highlight was the ceremonial tree planting to recognize the achievements of the 44 Tree City USA Communities, the Tree Line USA and North Dakota’s only Tree Campus USA – NDSU.
To achieve Tree Campus USA status, NDSU met five requirements, including form an advisory committee, create a management plan, dedicate an annual expenditure for tree planting and care, hold an Arbor Day observance and engage the student body in a service learning project.
The NDSU selection Prairie Dream Paper Birch – Betula papyrifera ‘Varen’ that participants planted together during the ceremony will serve as a lasting reminder of the dedication communities, utilities and NDSU have to plant and care for trees.
During the awards ceremony, President Bresciani and State Forester Larry Kotchman presented each of the 14 winners with a special Trees Awards plaque and limited edition centennial trees print. The award winners also were recognized on the field during the NDSU half-time activities at the Trees Bowl football game in the Fargodome.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation’s top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.