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Tyler earns Tree City USA designation again and a Growth Award for urban‑forest work
Summary
Tyler was named a Tree City USA community for the 17th consecutive year and earned the Arbor Day Foundation Growth Award for documenting multiple community forestry activities, including a large Arbor Day volunteer event, an expanded inventory system and increased per‑capita funding.
Luke Alfaro, Tyler’s urban forester, presented the council with the city’s 2025 Tree City USA designation and Growth Award from the Arbor Day Foundation, saying Tyler has held Tree City status for 17 consecutive years and earned the Growth Award for documenting more than ten qualifying activities.
“Tyler's been named a Tree City USA community for the 17th consecutive year,” Alfaro said, noting the city meets four standards — a tree board, a community tree ordinance, at least $2 per capita in urban forestry spending, and an Arbor Day celebration — and that Growth Award communities must document ten or more points across qualifying activities.
The presentation listed recent program activity that supported the award: an Arbor Day event at Lindsay Park that drew about 150 volunteers and planted 73 trees; a seedling giveaway of roughly 1,500 seedlings that reached about 265 residents; public tree‑care workshops; development and use of a tree management inventory system (which earned seven award points); and increased urban‑forest funding (from a three‑year average of $5.80 per capita to $6.68 per capita in 2025). Alfaro also reported 2025 operations statistics of 114 trees planted, 239 pruned and 82 removed, yielding a 1.4:1 planting‑to‑removal ratio.
Alfaro credited cross‑department coordination and private partnerships for supporting the program, including a long‑running arrangement with Oncor Electric that contributed an additional Growth Award point. He described the inventory system as a tool that tracks public trees, visual documentation and budget needs and said the city’s professional development — including 11.25 continuing education units completed through the International Society of Arboriculture — supports best practices.
The presentation closed with a council question about the planting/removal ratio’s scope; Alfaro clarified that the ratio applies only to city‑maintained properties (parks, cemeteries, trails and other public lands), not private property.
The council received the presentation; no formal council action was recorded on the award itself.
