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City Forester Ian McDonald joins the podcast to talk all things trees in Arvada!

Arvada was recently named Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation for the 33rd consecutive year! And for the fourth straight year, Arvada earned the Tree City USA Growth Award from the Arbor Day Foundation for our outstanding commitment to sustainable urban forest management.

In this episode, Ian explains the criteria required to earn those recognitions (including the fact Arvada spends $8.35 per capita on our tree care – far exceeding the $2 per capita required to be eligible to be named Tree City USA!)

Other topics discussed with Ian include:

• The City's annual Arbor Day tree planting event with local elementary schools 
• What exactly is 'urban forestry' and how it's different than traditional forestry 
• The City's approach to replacing trees when they have to be removed 
• City and County of Denver's Licensed Tree Contractor List 
• The programs and services the City's forestry team offers, including Christmas Tree Recycling, Trees Across Arvada, a new mulch pick-up site that will be available soon, and the City's Plant-A-Tree program
• Which types of trees are suitable for Colorado's dry climate and which types are more trouble

Other news and events: 

• Mayor Lauren Simpson recently gave her first "State of the City" address
• The City's Volunteer Appreciation Event is now June 8 after getting rained out on April 27
• The Ralston Central Splash Pad and Olde Town Water Fountain open Memorial Day weekend! 

Visit us at arvadaco.gov/podcast or email us at podcast@arvada.org.