A view of trees across Cassadaga’s Middle Lake. OBSERVER Photo by Natasha Matteliano.

CASSADAGA — Earlier this year the Village of Cassadaga was named a 2019 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation, in honor of its commitment to effective urban forest management.

The village achieved the Tree City USA recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements: a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, and annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.

“Tree City USA communities see the impact an urban forest has in a community first hand,” said Dan Lambe, president of the Arbor Day Foundation. “The trees being planted and cared for by the Village of Cassadaga are ensuring that generations to come will enjoy a better quality of life. Additionally, participation in this program brings residents together and creates a sense of civic pride, whether it’s through volunteer engagement or public education.”

Communities worldwide are facing issues with air quality, water resources, personal health and well-being, energy use and protection from extreme heat and flooding. The Arbor Day Foundation recently launched the Time for Trees initiative to address these issues, with unprecedented goals of planting 100 million trees in forests and communities and inspiring five million tree planters by 2022.

With Tree City USA recognition, Cassadaga has demonstrated a commitment to effective urban forest management and doing its part to help address these challenges for Cassadaga residents now and in the future.

Arbor Day Foundation’s website reads, “The Tree City USA program has been greening up cities and towns across America since 1976. It is a nationwide movement that provides the framework necessary for communities to manage and expand their public trees. More than 3,400 communities have made the commitment to becoming a Tree City USA.”

Cassadaga joins over 140 Tree City USA communities in New York, including New York City, the largest and Ellicottville, the smallest Tree City USA community in the state. It all started with the village applying for a grant from the Department of Environmental Conservation, but were told that it would look best on the application if the village was recognized by Tree City USA.

This then encouraged Cassadaga to look into what being a Tree City meant and they then became very excited to implement the steps it takes to become one. When coming up with a ‘tree board’, Cassadaga had lots of volunteers, both from Cassadaga and Lily Dale.

Then the village had to come up with a tree ordinance, which basically means that any trees on village land are protected by this ordinance which says that a person or organization must have approval before cutting down a tree or any other things that people do with trees, explained Peter George, first Vice President on the Citizens for a Better Cassadaga organization.

“We knew that implementing this tree ordinance would bring control and order to what happens with trees,” said George.

Getting the budget for the trees was not a hard thing to achieve for Cassadaga, as both Lily Dale and Cassadaga had already had room in their budgets for trees.

The last requirement for the recognition is to have an Arbor Day observance and proclamation. Cassadaga held their first observance and proclamation in 2019.

Before the pandemic, the village scheduled three activities on May 9, Arbor Day in Cassadaga. The activities will include a road race, which proceeds will benefit an organization of Shanna and Christopher Wilcox’s choice, in honor of Emmaline Wilcox’s passing.

Also in honor of Emmaline, Cassadaga planned on will be planting a tree at the Cassadaga beach in her name, which will provide shade on the beach. The third activity will be a hike through the new Cassadaga Nature Park.

At this point in time, Cassadaga-Lily Dale Tree Committee has a meeting about the Arbor Day committee scheduled for April 21. The organization will make a decision on whether to cancel the Arbor Day events at that point. Realistically, it is unlikely that there will be any events in May.