City of Ithaca

The City of Ithaca has a very progressive Urban Forestry Program. One of the main goals of the program is summarized, "By the year 2015, Ithaca's community forest will be multi-aged, fully stocked, healthy and safe. This goal was achieved early in 2005. Furthermore, Ithaca has been named a Tree City USA for 23 consecutive years, by the National Arbor Day Foundation, and received the Tree City USA Growth Award, which recognizes environmental improvement and encourages higher levels of tree care each year, for 15 years. Various measures being implemented through the Forestry Program are aimed at creating a cleaner and safer environment for residents: The City generates its own topsoil from stump grindings from the previous year; it produces its own mulch by chipping up branches, trees, and brush; it currently sells its excess wastewood products to Tree Source Solutions, a company which uses the wastewood as a biofuel for salt production; it keeps a full inventory of all trees to allow the City to focus on tree diversity and appropriate planting practices; and more. This program promotes and facilitates Ithaca's goals of creating healthy air, providing a cooling effect, and maintaining habitats for a variety of animals.