This post was written by Addie Davis, an intern for AASHE's STARS Program

Tree Campus USA, the Arbor Day Foundation's latest addition to a lineup of tree management certification programs including Tree City USA and Tree Line USA, is a great resource for colleges and universities interested in creating a healthy campus tree culture.

Institutions that apply for the certification are expected to exhibit superior campus tree management practices, have a strong commitment to helping local communities foster healthy urban forests, and have an exemplary commitment to and record of engaging their student populations in service learning projects focused on campus, community and forestry efforts.

For campuses that are striving to improve the social and environmental impact of their operations, planting trees is a great and sometimes overlooked place to start.  Trees are a triple threat, simultaneously beautifying a campus, catching carbon, improving energy efficiency of buildings-returning significant financial savings to an institution in the form of decreased energy bills, and strengthening a campus community's sense of place and pride in their institution.

The Tree Campus USA certification is both a great source of recognition for schools that are already leaders in campus forestry and a useful guidance tool for schools that wish to significantly improve their campus tree cultures.  The new certification is included as a tier two credit in AASHE's current version of STARS and many campuses have already achieved or are on the path to achieving certification.

Learn more about Tree Campus USA.