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One Civic Square Carmel, IN 46032
Contact: Nancy Heck
E-Mail: nheck@carmel.in.gov
Phone: (317) 571-2494
Nancy Heck
The
Department of Community Relations
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City of Carmel
One Civic Square Carmel, IN 46032
News Release
Date:
March 10, 2008
Contact:
Nancy Heck
(317) 571-2494
Release:
Immediate
City of Carmel is Recognized for its Environmental
Efforts
Carmel, IN – Carmel has been recognized as a finalist for
the Home Depot Foundation
and US Conference of Mayors
Third
Annual Awards of Excellence for Community Trees. The Home
Depot Foundation believes that the urban forest is one of
the essential building blocks for healthy, livable
communities impacting our social, environmental, economic
and overall well-being. Accordingly, the Awards of
Excellence for Community Trees was established.
“Carmel prides itself on its attention to green space and
our environment. We realize the important role trees play in
cleaning our air, conserving soil and adding beauty and
charm to our community by greatly enhancing our quality of
life,” said
Mayor Jim Brainard.
Carmel submitted its first application for judging in
December and submitted its second round application in late
February. The second and final round of judging will take
place in March with final awards being presented at the June
2008 US Conference of Mayors. Final awards will be presented
in two population categories; one category for large cities
with a population of 100,000 or more, and the other for
small cities with a population less than 100,000. Within
each category two Grant awards will be made in the amount of
$75,000 to the winning project and $25,000 to the runner-up.
Outstanding Achievement Awards of $2,500 each will also be
given in each category.
The City of Carmel is a prime candidate for the Awards of
Excellence for Community Trees because
Urban Forestry is a
key element of sustainability for Carmel. In 2006, Mayor
Brainard increased the Urban Forestry budget to $400,000,
which tripled the previous amount budgeted for the program.
For the last several years the budget amount of $400,000 has
remained the same and has allowed the Urban Forestry Program
to operate with three full time urban forester professional
positions. The additional budgeted funds also allowed the
Urban Forestry Program to purchase trees and landscaping for
multiple roadway projects and streetscapes.
Carmel is also in the process of evaluating how our trees
fit into the larger picture of Urban Forestry around the
country. To help complete the assessment, the Urban Forestry
Department recently purchased five hand-held PDAs to be set
up with the Federal Forest Service’s “i-Tree” software
product. This will enable the staff and volunteers to
produce a real time computerized inventory of City trees,
and then be able to run the results through a federal Street
Tree Resource Analysis Tool for Urban Forest Managers
(STRATUM) report. Currently, Carmel’s Urban Forestry program
has planted 42,685 trees between 1995 and the present, and
approximately 44% of the trees are indigenous species of
Carmel.
The City of Carmel’s continued efforts for a green
infrastructure will allow it to receive its 14th consecutive
honor of being a
TREE CITY USA after
Carmel's Arbor Day
Celebration in April of 2008. Carmel has also received a
Tree Growth Award for the last 12 years consecutively, the
longest run of Tree Growth awards in Indiana.
Along with the annual Arbor Day Celebration, the Urban
Forestry Department has also been involved with several
projects including the Urban Forestry Committee Neighborhood
Fall Planting, an Emerald ash borer replacement grant,
Utility Department installations, Engineering Department
streetscapes for new roads, pruning with the Parks
Department along the Monon Trail linear park, and others.
The goals of the Home Depot Foundation and the US Conference
of Mayors partnership and award are:
- To identify, recognize and showcase outstanding, innovative
work of public/private partnerships engaged in enhancing and
strengthening communities through the strategic use of
trees.
- To promote the exchange of best practices and encourage
cities around the country to adopt and implement strategic
tree planting programs in partnership with local nonprofits.
- To increase the public’s knowledge, understanding
and appreciation of trees and their role in creating
healthy, sustainable communities
The Home Depot Foundation recognizes that cities across the
country, in partnership with local nonprofits, are achieving
outstanding results in urban forestry both on a project
basis and programmatic level. Project winners will be
selected by an independent advisory committee comprised of
experts in the field of urban forestry, environment and
sustainable community development. Applications for the
award are being assessed based on the extent to which the
initiative incorporates the following criteria:
- Demonstrated partnership between city government and one or
more local nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status
- Exhibited innovation in the development and enhancement of a
city’s urban forest
Demonstrated exceptional city leadership
- Established benchmark measures for evaluating the success of
the program/project and an assessment of whether these
measures have been achieved
- Incorporated the urban forest into community revitalization
plans and infrastructure improvements
- Engaged the community and multiple partners
- Enhanced the livability of a city or targeted neighborhood
- Demonstrated the ecological function of the urban forest
- Provided clear understanding and attention to sustainability
- Provided a model that is replicable by others
-end-
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