DENTON (UNT), Texas - The Arbor Day Foundation has recognized the University of North Texas as a 2016 Tree Campus USA University for its continuing dedication to campus forestry management and environmental stewardship. This marks the ninth year in a row that UNT has earned this distinction.

Tree Campus USA is a national program honoring colleges and universities and their leaders for promoting healthy management of their campus trees and engaging the community in environmental stewardship. Tree Campus USA was launched in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation and is supported by a grant from Toyota.

Erik Trevino, grounds manager at UNT, said this award “creates awareness and prioritizes trees” across UNT’s main campus and external sites, which have more than 5,000 trees.

“The trees are one of the first things you notice when you come to campus,” he said. “We’ve got a good mix of trees – maples, magnolias, Chinquapin oaks and eastern red cedars – and the leadership at our university has made it a priority to take care of them.”

The UNT grounds team, he added, works hard to “keep the grounds and trees looking nice.”

UNT met the required five core standards of tree care and community engagement in order to receive Tree Campus USA status. Those standards are establishing a campus tree advisory committee; having a campus tree-care plan; verifying dedicated annual expenditures on the campus tree-care plan; being involved in an Arbor Day observance and instituting a service-learning project aimed at engaging the student body.

Kelly Frailey, a facilities technician, said that UNT facilitates a committee comprised of students, staff, faculty and community members that advocates for UNT’s trees.

“Just think about when you’re walking down the sidewalk in the middle of summer,” Frailey said. “If there were no trees and no shade, it would be much hotter, especially in the Texas heat.”