KUNA, Idaho — Kuna hosted a tree planting ceremony, Wednesday morning, with Indian Creek elementary students.
- The City of Kuna is celebrating 32 years as a Tree City USA
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
The benefits of trees in our communities are endless.
I’m Allie Triepke, your Kuna Neighborhood Reporter, here behind city hall for Kuna’s Arbor Day Celebration.
Wednesday morning, Kuna dug up another year of being an official Tree City.
Arbor Day Foundation has 4 requirements to be a Tree City. A city must maintain a tree board or department. Have a community tree ordinance and well as a community forestry program with an annual budget. And celebrate Arbor Day.
The city ‘branched out’ to celebrate their 32nd Arbor Day in the fall instead of the spring, “and we’ve made our own Arbor Day here in Kuna, so we can invite the kids out, it gives them something to come and see, they get to interact with our park’s guys and get to know them. It’s just super important for the community and we want to keep our 32 year tradition alive,” said Jones.
Students from Indian Creek Elementary learned about the importance of planting trees and watched the popular movie, The Lorax before the fall arbor celebration. And they loved meeting the famous tree lover.
“Do you guys like trees? YEAH!” said Annie and Caden.
Annie told me syrup comes from trees and that’s why she wants to see lots of trees in Kuna, “also, make sure we don’t knock them down, if we do, then we won’t have anymore trees,” said Annie.
While the newly planted Golden Ginkgo tree is looking a little ‘leaf-less’, come summer and fall, the tree will boast green and yellow foliage.
“I learned in class that trees are important because they actually grow more leaves in the summer,” said Caden.
The Arbor Day Foundation says trees play a critical role in creating healthier, safer, and more connected communities. They clean our air, filter our water, and even slow storm surge and flooding in our cities. Trees also provide shade and cool our cities by up to 10 degrees.
“We want to involve the community and of course we want to grow it as we go,” said Jones.
As a state, Idaho will celebrate Arbor Day on the last Friday of April. I’m Allie Triepke, your Kuna neighborhood reporter, Idaho News 6.
