Hill AFB Tree City USA for 20th consecutive year

  • Published
  • By Barbara Fisher
  • 75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah --  Hill Air Force Base received national recognition last week, but not for what one might expect. This recognition came from the Arbor Day Foundation for being "green" and being named as a Tree City USA for the 20th year in a row.

On its 6,600-plus acres, Hill AFB has more than 13,000 trees of 92 different species, valued at approximately $17 million dollars. According to Russ Lawrence, the base's natural resources program manager, these trees are used to not only provide beauty, but to provide shade, help conserve energy, provide windbreaks, help clean the air, prevent erosion, and provide wildlife habitat.

A few years ago, the 75th Civil Engineer Group's Environmental Branch set up a database to track and manage the base's trees. According to this database:

· The base's oldest tree -- a 94-year-old Siberian Elm, has a diameter of 53 inches and is located on the north side of the base in the Maintenance Activity Management System -II (MAMS II) area.

· The largest diameter tree -- a rare Japanese Pagoda, (the most valuable tree on Hill at $42,750), has a diameter of 60 inches and is located north of the parking lot on Sixth Street and Southgate Drive.

· The base's tallest tree -- a Box Elder is 90 feet tall and is also located in the MAMS II area.

· The second tallest tree -- a 69-year-old Siberian Elm is 60 feet tall and is located at Third Street and "D" Avenue.

· The base's newest trees -- saplings in the base's tree farm -- are located near the Log Cabin; the tree farm currently has 672 trees at various stages of growth.

But just having trees is not what earned Hill AFB a Tree City USA designation. For these 20 years, Hill has met the Arbor Day Foundation's four standards of the Tree City USA program, based on the judgment of the state forester's office. One of these standards is having a community tree ordinance.

If a tree on Hill AFB dies or is diseased or needs to be removed for other reasons, the base's tree replacement policy requires replacement with the same number of inches of wood as the tree being removed. For example, if the tree is 25 inches in diameter, 25 one-inch saplings would need to planted in its place.

In December 2011 when the base lost 152 trees in a severe wind storm, they were all replaced -- plus some more -- in 2012, including more than 100 saplings planted by a local Boy Scout Troop in the tree farm. If a new building goes up on the base, the landscaping around it must also include trees, increasing the base's overall inventory of trees.

Hill is not the only Air Force installation to embrace the Tree City USA program. More than 40 Air Force facilities participate in the program, with half of those participating for 19 or more years. According to the Arbor Day Foundation website, www.arborday.org, Offutt AFB, Neb., has the longest record at 26 years, while Buckley AFB, Colo., a relative Air Force newcomer to the program, has been a Tree City USA for eight years.

The reason this program is important to the Air Force is a simple one -- its duty to the stewardship of the environment.

Team Hill is charged with protecting the land and environment of Hill Air Force that the nation has put in our trust and care.

Arbor Day 2013 on Friday, April 26, is a good day to stop and reflect on this duty. Maybe plant a tree. The base has a new dwarf spruce sitting in a pot waiting for its new home, courtesy of the Tree City USA luncheon in Salt Lake City last week.