SUNY Oswego has earned Tree Campus Higher Education recognition from the Arbor Day Foundation for the university’s commitment to effective urban forest management.

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. 

For Earth Month 2024, SUNY Oswego took part in a number of related special events and activities, including Arbor Day plantings, programs and tree giveaways; a Maple Breakfast using sap harvested on campus; and more. 

Trees on campus and in urban spaces can lower energy costs by providing shade cover, cleaner air and water, and green spaces for students and faculty, the foundation said in a news release recognizing the honor. In addition, trees improve students' mental and cognitive health, provide an appealing aesthetic for campuses and create shaded areas for studying and gathering.

Kate Spector, SUNY Oswego’s sustainability director, noted that the connection goes all the way back to the institution’s beginnings, as founder Edward Austin Sheldon was a botanist and known for his love of trees.

In the 20th century, the campus continued this thread with the establishment of the Centennial Arboretum in 1961, part of celebrating the 100th anniversary of the institution’s founding. Seventy-four organizations were the original supporters of the Centennial Arboretum, outside Moreland Hall on Washington Boulevard. 

On Arbor Day in 2022, SUNY Oswego rededicated the arboretum –- in a collaboration between the Office of Sustainability, Rice Creek Field Station and Oswego Tree Stewards –- and continues to add and maintain trees in this space.

Arbor Day 2024 on April 26 was filled with activities, including a proclamation and tree planting, arboretum maintenance, Rice Creek's Arbor Day workshop series, Shining Waters campus cleanup and more. 

Restoring the region

Rice Creek Field Station also has been an ongoing partner in the Canal Forest Restoration Project, fulfilling a mission to restore the presence of white oak and white pine trees throughout New York’s canal regions. The effort includes tree giveaways to bring these species back into a region where they were removed in large part during the construction of the Erie Canal.

“I think it’s awesome,” said Maxon Ali, an anthropology major with a sustainability minor who has worked with the Sustainability Office on a couple of tree-related projects. “I think we can really set an example for other campuses and the community.”

Ali managed a project that inventoried the 95 trees of 42 specific species that were in the arboretum as of the start of the semester. Ali said he started with pretty good data from the original planting. While some of the trees were still very healthy and thriving since their 1961 planting, some trees were lost but also added during previous Arbor Day observances.

“I also had the opportunity to look at what trees we could add that would be useful,” Ali said. “With the climate zone starting to shift, we have to look at trees that traditionally thrived in a more southern climate.”

This allowed the campus to add interesting new specimens like the pawpaw tree, also known as the dog banana tree, which is starting to appear further north. “We’re proud to have planted two pawpaw trees in the arboretum, and we hope they will present fruit within the next few years.”

The arboretum also provided another way to build a sense of community. “One of the really cool things has been collaborating with Greek organizations, where they could plant a tree and adopt it, maintaining it throughout the year.”

Ali has developed a lifelong interest in trees while growing up with a lot of time outdoors, fishing, hiking and learning about how to identify them from his father. He paid that forward working with the university’s Maple on Tap project.

“We have about 100 maple trees in Fallbrook in our sugar bush that we have tapped, and I could quickly identify a sugar maple that we could tap. It was good to have the opportunity to help educate other members of the project and our volunteers to identify a sugar maple.”

Some syrup was a featured part of the menu for a special community Maple Breakfast in Lakeside Dining Center. Visitors and students enjoyed a variety of breakfast and brunch goodies as well as Adirondack pancakes with the campus-sourced syrup. 

Ali has also used an app called iTree that can calculate both the immediate and long-term benefits of any tree according to species, size and location. 

“The arboretum alone can sequester 1,476 pounds of carbon after one year, and after 20 years would sequester 41,828 pounds,” Ali said. “And that’s not even taking into account the thousands of other trees we have on campus.”

For more information about SUNY Oswego's sustainability programs and initiatives, visit the Sustainability website.

About the Arbor Day Foundation

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 on campus 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.

"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 wellbeing.”

The Tree Campus Higher Education program honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and engaging staff and students in conservation goals. 

SUNY Oswego achieved the distinction by meeting Tree Campus Higher Education’s five standards, including maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and a student service-learning project. Currently, 411 campuses across the United States have earned this recognition.

More information about the program is available at treecampushighered.org.

Founded in 1972, the Arbor Day Foundation is the world’s largest membership nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees. With a focus on communities and forests of greatest need, the foundation — alongside its more than 1 million members, supporters and valued partners — has helped to plant nearly 500 million trees in more than 50 countries. Guided by its mission to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees, the Arbor Day Foundation is committed to unlocking the power of trees to help solve critical issues facing people and the planet. Learn more about the impact of the Arbor Day Foundation at arborday.org.