Valdosta State University’s Landscape and Grounds crew teamed up with students from the Honors College Tuesday to plant five new longleaf pine trees near Whitehead Camellia Trail on Main Campus. The pre-Thanksgiving break project was a reminder of the university’s year-round commitment to effective urban forest management.   

“Each year we plant trees to replace ones lost to severe weather, lightning strikes, pine beetle infestations, or other issues,” said Monica Haynes, superintendent of Landscape and Grounds at VSU. “We typically do these plantings several times a year, but this is the first time we have been able to invite students to join us since the pandemic started. We are really happy to be outside on a beautiful fall day digging in the dirt and doing something good for the environment and our campus.”  

Haynes said projects like this one are an opportunity for all involved to learn more about the work behind maintaining VSU’s urban forest and why those efforts are important to the university. She said it takes everyone — students, faculty, and staff — working together to maintain the distinctive beauty of the VSU campus and a healthy environment for everyone to live, learn, work, and play.    

VSU’s ongoing efforts to maintain, preserve, and protect its trees and landscaping have earned the university the Arbor Day Foundation Tree Campus USA designation nine years in a row. Through this program, the foundation honors colleges and universities across the nation for their effective campus forest management and engages colleges and universities in conservation goals. 

Haynes said VSU plans to bring home its 10^th Tree Campus USA recognition in 2022.