The Arbor Day Foundation has announced that JCC is a 2009 Tree Campus USA college for its dedication to campus forestry management and environmental stewardship.

JCC is the first community college in New York to be named a Tree Campus USA college. JCC’s Jamestown and Cattaraugus County campuses and North County Center are included in the designation.

Bard College and Cornell University were the other New York state schools named to the Tree Campus USA list.

Tree Campus USA, a national program launched in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation, honors colleges and universities and the leaders of the campus and surrounding communities for promoting healthy urban forest management and engaging the campus community in environmental stewardship. Tree Campus USA is supported by a grant from Toyota.

The effort to obtain the National Arbor Day recognition was led by JCC biology faculty members Jan Bowman and Becky Nystrom, certified arborist Lori Brockelbank, and JCC students Jay Card, Jonathan Willow, Matthew Lerow, Allison Carey, and Alyssa Skinner.

“When Lori Brockelbank approached us about the potential certification, I wasn't sure that it was something that we could reasonably do,” said Mrs. Bowman. “However, JCC’s administration, Lori, and a very special group of environmental science students worked with Becky Nystrom and me to complete a tree inventory and management plan for the Jamestown, Olean, and Dunkirk sites.

“Our students gained a great deal of experience through the internship, which was designed with Forecon, the firm which employs Ms. Brockelbank, and we now have a promising future as a Tree Campus USA site,” Mrs. Bowman added. “Trees are the life blood of our planet. It's inspiring to know that our college community recognizes how important trees are in an urban environment, especially given the rapid expansion of human development in today's world.”

JCC met the required five core standards of tree care and community engagement to receive Tree Campus USA status: establishing a campus tree advisory committee; evidence of a campus tree care plan; verification of dedicated annual expenditures on the campus tree care plan; involvement in an Arbor Day observance; and the institution of a service-learning project aimed at engaging the student body.

“The Tree Campus USA program will have a long-lasting impact at JCC as it engages college students and local citizens to plant trees and create healthier communities for people to enjoy for decades to come,” said John Rosenow, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “JCC will benefit from exceptional tree care practices on campus as it works with tree-care professionals in the community to improve the tree canopy in Jamestown.”

The Arbor Day Foundation launched Tree Campus USA in fall 2008 by planting trees at nine college campuses throughout the U.S. JCC, which has hosted Earthfest for several years in April, included a tree planting in honor of Arbor Day during last year’s celebration.

Deb Lanni, a member of JCC’s faculty and co-chairperson of the college’s sustainability committee, feels the number of trees and the species diversity at JCC’s sites enhances the grounds. The beauty of the trees, she emphasized, is paralleled by the “contributions they make to improving air quality, providing habitat and food for wildlife, and sequestering carbon.”

The students found the Tree Campus USA internship rewarding and valuable. The data that they collected was used to develop JCC’s tree management plan.

The project “…allowed me to learn and experience the different problems with urban tree development [and] how to address these problems from both a biological and political perspective,” said Jay Card.

“Trees play such an important role in our campus and I feel that any way we can improve or protect them is a great step toward a healthier and brighter future at JCC,” added Matthew Lerow. “I’ve got a special stroll through campus planned for exactly fifty years from today.”

Both Jonathan Willow and Allison Carey emphasized the significance of their roles in helping others understand the value of tree diversity, health, and maintenance.

“Participating in the maintenance plan, especially, was very exciting because it showed me how important the students really were in the certification process,” said Ms. Carey.

“The internship taught us to look beyond the beauty of our neighborhood trees to see how we can help make our community even better and more botanical,” Ms. Skinner remarked. “I [will] always support this effort since the trees studied for the Tree Campus USA program will never stop returning favors for us.”

JCC’s commitment to the environment and sustainability, according to John Garfoot, vice president and dean of administration, is further enhanced by the contributions of faculty and staff to the development of the tree management plan.

The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit conservation organization of nearly one million members, with a mission to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. More information on the Tree Campus USA program is available at www.arborday.org/TreeCampusUSA.