Cornelia is greener thanks to Arbor Day, a day the city of Cornelia has celebrated annually. Trees have been planted on two vacant lots on the corner of Moss Street and Wells Street.
“This year, we applied for and got funding from the Georgia Relief Program. So, all the trees are being paid for with the grant,” City Manager Dee Anderson talked about the importance of today. “They gave us a list of trees and laid out how to plant them. We have followed their plan.”
Vacant Lots
The two sites chosen for the trees on the corner of Moss and Wells are owned by the city. “These lots are just clean slates, and we thought it would be a nice place to plant some trees and eventually build a little pocket park once they grow up a little bit,” Anderson added.
The trees planted on Lots 1 are 2 American Hophornbeam, one American Beech, one Hickory, and four Large Oaks totaling 2,560 square feet.
On Lot 2, 3 Large Oaks, 1 Hickory, and 2 Pecan trees were planted.
It is proposed to plant two Blackgum and a Beach tree when they become available.
Tree City USA
For the past 33 years, Cornelia has been declared Tree City USA. It is a program through the Forest Service. More than 3,400 communities have committed to participating in this program, which has held the objective to green up cities and towns across America since 1976. In the first year, the program was comprised of 42 communities in 16 states, and today, the program includes all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico.
Requirements include spending a certain amount of money per capita on trees and landscaping. Cornelia has qualified every year for the last 30 years.
There are so many benefits trees bring to communities. Belonging to Tree City USA allows your city or town to enjoy clean environmental opportunities.
Four-Step Framework
The Tree City USA program gives communities a four-step framework to maintain and grow their tree cover. Each community commits to the mission of environmental change.
“The celebration of Arbor Day is important to Cornelia. It is a way to acknowledge how important trees are to humanity,” Mayor John Borrow said. “It is a way for us to be deliberate about not letting concrete and asphalt and sprawl take over but be deliberate about where we are planting trees and trying to make our community more beautiful.”
The event was held February 16 at 10 a.m. in Cornelia. The trees were planted beforehand.
