The city of Merrill held its annual Arbor Day Planting and Tree City USA recognition planting at the MARC last Wednesday.
The city planted three trees to honor Arbor Day this year (one Swamp White Oak, one Valley Forge Elm, and one White Spire Birch); the tree pictured is the Valley Forge Elm. The trees were donated by American Transmission Company for this planting.
This is Merrill’s 28th year being recognized as a Tree City USA. The city has been very proactive in tree planting over the past 10-plus years, planting thousands of trees on its boulevards and in its park lands. The city has also been very aggressive and successful in securing grant funding for urban forestry projects from numerous sources in the past decade. Merrill has secured over $100,000 worth of funding from such sources as Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Urban Forestry Program, Polar Bear International, American Transmission Company, Wisconsin Public Service, to name a few.
The City of Merrill Parks & Recreation Department remains committed to the highest level of urban forestry and city beautification.