Portsmouth Wins Tree City USA and Growth Awards from Arbor Day Foundation Arbor Day Ceremony Planned at Little Harbour Elementary on Friday, April 28, 2023

The Arbor Day Foundation has again named Portsmouth a Tree City USA and has awarded the Tree Growth Award to the City’s Department of Public Works Parks and Greenery Division. City Arborist Supervisor Max Wiater with the City’s Parks and Greenery Division, led by Corin Hallowell and the Trees & Public Greenery Committee, have helped Portsmouth achieve Tree City USA recognition for over twenty years.

Founded in 1976, Tree City USA is a partnership between the Arbor Day Foundation, the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Association of State Foresters. The award depends on meeting the program’s four requirements: a tree board or department, a tree-care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least two dollars per capita, and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation. The Tree City USA Growth Award recognizes Portsmouth for demonstrating environmental improvement and a higher level of tree care.

To honor this commitment, the City has undertaken the “400 Trees for the 400th” initiative. Earlier this month, 200 residents collected free trees to plant in their yards. Parks and Greenery are planting 200 trees around the City. As part of this effort, Portsmouth Rotary has donated 100 trees in commemoration of their 100th anniversary. This totals 400 new trees planted across the City in April.

To celebrate Arbor Day, on Friday, April 28, 2023, at 8:30 am, the City will issue the Mayor’s Arbor Day Proclamation in a ceremony at Little Harbour Elementary School and plant one of the “400 Trees for the 400th” accompanied by representatives from Portsmouth Rotary and members of the Portsmouth High School Eco-Club. The students will then assist the City’s Arborist Supervisor with planting additional trees on the school grounds.

Portsmouth earns its long-standing reputation with the Arbor Day Foundation because there are over 10,000 trees in Portsmouth that provide natural and historic character, from the oldest, a horse chestnut planted in 1776 by William Whipple, signer of the Declaration of Independence, to the cherry trees gifted by the Foreign Ministry and Portsmouth’s Sister City in Japan in honor of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty. The City’s trees filter environmental pollutants, aid in stormwater runoff and filtration, provide wildlife habitat, provide screening, increase biodiversity, and improve the quality of life in the City. City Arborist Wiater works with a team of arborists and A.J. Dupere, Urban Forester from the New Hampshire Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Division of Forests and Lands to preserve Portsmouth’s urban forest through tree preservation techniques, yearly tree plantings and inventory management to maintain a diverse urban forest. The City also maintains a nine-member Trees and Public Greenery Committee, currently chaired by Peter Loughlin and Dick Adams.

In his award letter, Arbor Day Foundation Chief Executive Dan Lambe said, "On behalf of the Arbor Day Foundation, I’m thrilled to congratulate Portsmouth on earning recognition as a Tree City USA and receiving a Growth Award. Thank you for taking pride in your community by planting, nurturing, and celebrating trees. Portsmouth is part of an incredible network of more than 3,600 Tree City USA communities nationwide. With the additional recognition of a Growth Award, your community has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to sustainable urban forest management.”

For more information go to the City’s urban forest and its Tree Protection and Planting guidelines, please visit:

CAPTION: The traditional Arbor Day in Portsmouth ceremonial tree-planting took place in 2022 on Four Tree Island.