Submitted Photo Local Girl Scouts help Westfield village officials celebrate Arbor Day.

WESTFIELD — Despite rain and cold, Girl Scouts from Westfield and Ripley joined Westfield Mayor Dennis Lutes and the Westfield Tree Board on April 28 in planting a tree to commemorate Arbor Day. The tree, an Amber Glow Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), was planted in Moore Park in the center of Westfield in observance of the holiday that celebrates the planting, upkeep, and preservation of trees. This is also in line with the Girl Scouts of America’s promise to plant 5 million trees in five years.

In the proclamation read by Mayor Lutes, he explained how Arbor Day was begun in Nebraska in 1872 in order to encourage Nebraskans to plant trees in their community. Since that time, it has become the day throughout the United States and the world to recognize the importance of trees to us and to our environment.

At the planting, Tree Board members displayed the Tree City banner signifying the village was recently named a 2022 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation because of its commitment to urban forest management. Westfield achieved the recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements: maintaining a tree board or department, having a tree care ordinance, dedicating an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita, and hosting an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.

In 2017, recognizing that Westfield had been losing many of its trees due to age and other causes, village trustees created the Westfield Tree Board, which then developed the ReTree Westfield planting and management program aimed at restoring and improving the community’s urban forest. This was done in conjunction with New York State’s ReLeaf program managed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Urban and Community Forestry Program (UCF) in partnership with the NYS Forestry Council. Since the creation of the Tree Board, more than 300 trees have been planted in Westfield.

Under the direction of the Tree Board, the tree inventory is currently being updated to ensure that tree replacement will continue. Trees are selected by the Village based on the desire for diversity of species and suitability for the location. Utility lines, sewer lines, and other factors are considered in tree selection.

To ensure that trees mature to their full potential for providing shade and beauty for the community, the Tree Board is in the process of developing a tree care and trimming program aimed at shaping recently planted trees while young.

Village of Westfield residents who have questions concerning trees on or near their property are encouraged to email the Tree Board at treeboard@villageofwestfield.org.