IT'S IN OUR ROOTS. In 1976, the same year the Tree City USA program was launched by the Arbor Day Foundation, Sheboygan became the first Wisconsin community to become an official Tree City. Many others have since followed suit. (Theresa Village President Chris Giese accepts a Tree City USA Award on Arbor Day in 1996 / Photo via Wisconsin Historical Society)

Back in the 1970s, the Arbor Day Foundation launched its Tree City USA program to recognize communities branching out to make their area greener and more sustainable. In the Chippewa Valley, a handful of cities have earned the accreditation, including Eau Claire.

As explained by the Arbor Day Foundation, the Tree City USA program gives community leaders a basic understanding of community forestry work, ultimately aimed to raise awareness of the value of trees; celebrating community improvement through trees; and to grow and maintain a national network of communities with related programs.

Communities must annually meet or exceed the four Tree City USA standards to be recognized:

1. Have a tree board or department. Identify who is responsible for community trees.
2. Have a public tree care ordinance. Establish community-wide laws that govern public tree care.
3. Have an annual expenditure of at least $2 per capita for community tree care activities. The expenditures include tree planting and initial care, tree maintenance, tree removal, management, utility line clearance, and volunteer hours.
4. An Arbor Day observance and proclamation. The community must observe Arbor Day and have a signed proclamation. Arbor Day can be celebrated any day of the year.

Nationwide, 48% of people live in a Tree City – roughly 3,600 communities. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, over 990,000 trees are planted annually thanks to the program, and in just the first half of 2025, about $2 billion has been invested in trees.

In Wisconsin, there are 196 Tree City communities (Wisconsin is also one of the top five states for most Tree Cities and most related growth). In 2025, 100% of those 196 Wisconsin communities were re-certified.

A handful of those statewide communities are found in the Chippewa Valley: Altoona, Eau Claire, Menomonie, and Stanley. (Eau Claire has been an accredited Tree City for 46 years.) Just outside the Valley, places like Arcadia, Rice Lake, Barron, and others are also accredited Tree Cities. 

If the environment is our planet's body, trees are a vital organ, helping to produce conditions ripe for life. –Arbor Day Foundation

As of 2024, a reported 991,969 trees have been planted as part of the Tree City USA program, with nearly 48% of the nation living in a Tree City. (Map and data via Arbor Day Foundation)

Perhaps the most pressing reason to become a Tree City is climate change. "Climate change continues to impact our planet, creating a chain reaction of unfortunate scenarios that reaches into every corner of the globe – including our front yards," the Arbor Day Foundation states. "Human activity, including deforestation, is a main contributor."

Citing severe weather, heat waves, wildfires, and species extinction as more tangible ways people can "feel" climate change, the organization says there are many interconnected ways for communities to do their part in addressing climate change – and trees are a key solution.

As the organization explains, trees pull carbon from the air, simultaneously cleaning the air while producing the oxygen we breathe. Trees also "sweat," drawing water from their roots and putting water back into the atmosphere through their leaves; water vapor rises and gathers together to form clouds, rain, and snow.

"If the environment is our planet's body, trees are a vital organ, helping to produce conditions ripe for life," the Arbor Day Foundation states.

While Arbor Day was already celebrated in Eau Claire this year – April 25 – there are plenty of ways to learn more year-round. On Tree Campuses, those opportunities are particularly abundant, and the Valley is home to two accredited campuses: Chippewa Valley Technical College and UW-Eau Claire.

Learn more from each college's respective Tree Campus organizations, the City of Eau Claire's Forestry Department, or online through arborday.org.