Arbor Day Foundation Recognizes Chico State Once Again with Tree Campus USA Honor

Much of Mike Alonzo’s role as Chico State’s supervisor of Grounds and Landscape Services is to care for and maintain more than 2,700 cataloged trees across 132 acres of the University’s main campus. This month, his work and that of his team have been acknowledged nationally.

The Arbor Day Foundation honored Chico State with 2021 Tree Campus Higher Education recognition for its commitment to effective urban forest management. This is the fourth consecutive year the University has been bestowed with a Tree Campus Higher Education honor.

“It keeps validating that we’re doing the right thing,” said Alonzo (Agriculture, ’07). “It shows us that we’re making the right decisions and we’re investing where we should.”

The Tree Campus Higher Education program honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and engaging staff and students in conservation goals. Chico State achieved the distinction by meeting Tree Campus Higher Education’s five standards, including maintaining a tree advisory committee and a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and student service-learning project.

With over 200 species of trees on its campus, Chico State is just one of 393 higher education institutions across the United States with this recognition.

“Being one of a select few is certainly a point of pride, and I try to instill that same pride within our staff,” Alonzo said. “To be able to have the grounds and the trees we work with recognized year after year means a lot and when I share that with the staff, it encourages them to be a little more proactive and to pay closer attention to the trees in their areas.”

The Arbor Day Foundation notes that trees on college campuses and in urban spaces can lower energy costs by providing shade cover, cleaner air and water, and green spaces for students and faculty. In addition, trees improve students’ mental and cognitive health, provide an appealing aesthetic for campuses, and create shaded areas for studying and gathering.

In 2022, Chico State celebrates 40 years of official designation for its arboretum, though some of its most beloved trees date back before the University’s founding in 1887. According to a recent study by the International Society of Arboriculture, the estimated value of all 2,700 trees on campus is just shy of $22.6 million, based on the total replacement cost of all of the trees. 

The Arbor Day Foundation is the world’s largest membership nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees. Its Tree Campus Higher Education program began in 2008 to encourage colleges and universities to plant trees on their campuses.

“Trees not only play a vital role in the environment but also in our daily lives,” said Dan Lambe, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Having trees on college and university campuses is a great way to show a commitment to students and faculty’s overall well-being.”

Alonzo often hears from Chico State students and employees about how the University grounds are a source of pride and a selling point to prospective students. And knowing the wider Chico community uses campus and enjoys its beauty gives him extra satisfaction.

“Seeing community members walking their dog or cutting through campus going from one neighborhood to another or finding a place of refuge to relax lets me know that we’re doing things right,” he said.