From left: John Ramey, director of public works, Steve Willard, chief of environmental, natural and cultural resource management, Evelyn Guzman, Liz Davenport, Edward Carballo and John Curry, deputy garrison commander, shoveled mulch around a transplanted cypress tree during the Fort Gordon Arbor Day celebration. Photo by Charmain Brackett It’s rare for a community to hold a distinction for as many years as Fort Gordon has been named a Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation.

“This is the 17th year here,” said Cliff Hargrove, assistant forester with the Georgia Forestry Commission, who presented Fort Gordon with a banner to place on its Tree City USA sign at the Arbor Day celebration Feb. 19 at Heritage Park.

To qualify for the designation, a community must have a tree board or department, have a tree care ordinance, have a community forestry program with an annual budget of at least $2 per capita and have an annual Arbor Day observance.

A family enjoys shade on a sunny day underneath a tree in Freedom Park on Fort Gordon. Photo by Nick Spinelli Nationally Arbor Day is the last Friday in April, but communities can observe Arbor Day on any day of the year, according to Hargrove. In Georgia, the third Friday of February is typically seen as Arbor Day.

The first Arbor Day was celebrated in 1885 in Nebraska.

Besides their aesthetic value, trees play a vital role in the environment.

A mature tree will remove about 13 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air each year and return oxygen into the air. Also, it will absorb about 10 pounds of pollutants, he said.

“We need trees,” he said.

A tree in a residential neighborhood has an average lifespan of 37 as homeowners tend to see the value of trees. Trees in downtown, urban environments only average seven years, he said.

A special part of the Arbor Day celebration was a ceremonial tree planting. Two cypress trees which had been uprooted during some construction on post were replanted in the park.