Geneseo receives recognition as a Tree City USA community
Photo courtesy of Lukas Rodriguez/Pexels
With the nicer weather approaching, more Geneseo residents and community members will be outdoors, and appreciating nature. With a recent award, Geneseo can now offer its community members even more nature to explore. The village of Geneseo has been “designated as a Tree City USA community by the National Arbor Day Foundation,” as of Jan. 22, 2026, as per a Geneseo community notice flyer posted on geneseony.org.
This year is extra special for the village of Geneseo to be named a Tree City USA community. The movement celebrates its 50 year anniversary in 2026, as documented on the National Arbor Day Foundation website, and Geneseo’s community members have been working towards the goal of receiving this designation since last spring when the village of Geneseo and Geneseo’s Garden Club collaborated to plant two tulip trees in celebration of Arbor Day, as a step to “pursue a Tree City USA designation,” according to a May 2025 Livingston County News article. The National Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA movement, started in 1976, aims “to inspire communities to prioritize planting and caring for trees, strengthening the health and wellbeing of people and places,” as stated on the foundation’s website.
The village of Geneseo joins over 3,500 other cities as recognized Tree City communities. These communities together have invested over two billion dollars in trees in 2026 alone and have gotten 900,000 trees planted annually, as documented by The National Arbor Day Foundation.
In order to be designated as a Tree City community, The National Arbor Day Foundation requires that the community prove its dedication to this celebration of nature. The requirements include having “a community tree board, department, or position with legal authority and responsibility for public tree care decisions… [a] public tree care ordinance… [with] clear guidance for planting, maintaining, and/or removing trees from streets, parks, and other public spaces... a minimum of $2 per capita annual expenditure on community tree care related activities... [and] a public Arbor Day Observance and have an official, annual community proclamation issued and signed by the mayor, city council, or equivalent official or representative.”
The village of Geneseo’s community notice flyer announcing the village’s recognition as a Tree City community details its tree board and its plans, which include plans to pursue funding opportunities for tree-related resources in the village, to create a form for Geneseo residents to request a tree planted in their area, and to document a Geneseo tree list.
The Old Famer’s Almanac details that this year, Apr. 24 will be celebrated as Arbor Day, a day, as they describe, as being “much like Earth Day,” but solely focused on the planting of trees. The Almanac details the history of Arbor Day, beginning in 1854 when Nebraska politician Julius Sterling Morton married his wife, and they “settled on 160 treeless acres (the key word here is treeless).” Morton went on to plant several varieties of trees on his acres, and offered Nebraska citizens agricultural advice, and encouragement to do some planting of their own. Per the Geneseo community notice flyer, the village of Geneseo is planning an Arbor Day celebration on Apr. 24, 2026 “in partnership with the Village Board, Garden Club, and the Department of Public Works.”