Arizona Forestry Celebrates Arbor Day at the Capitol
Phoenix, AZ (4/14/2025) – Every year, people across the world celebrate Arbor Day to recognize the importance of trees and the multitude of benefits they provide to communities. Here in Arizona, the Department of Forestry and Fire Management’s Urban and Community Forestry (UCF) program observes the holiday by hosting a celebratory event along with community and agency partners to recognize municipalities, organizations, and individuals throughout the state that demonstrate leadership and excellence in community tree care and management.
DFFM’s Arizona Arbor Day event takes place on Thursday, April 17, and kicks off with a reading of the State Arbor Day Proclamation followed by an awards ceremony for the agency’s Urban and Community Forestry awards and Arbor Day program participants. The event concludes with a tree planting ceremony at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza.
Along with the event, DFFM also hosts a K-12 poster contest for Arizona students that gives them the opportunity to learn about trees and share their appreciation in a creative way. The 2025 theme, “Trees Remind Me” helps students share their creativity through thoughts, memories, and perspectives inspired by their time around trees. This year, the department received more than 600 posters with submissions ranging from family memories, culture and life lessons, to fun physical activities. DFFM displayed the top entries at the Capitol Museum through the end of April.
DFFM’s UCF Arbor Day partners include the Arizona Community Tree Council, the Arizona Nursery Association, Trees Matter, the Southwest Chapter of the Society of the American Foresters, Arizona Public Service, and Salt River Project. All of these organizations are actively involved in advancing urban forestry year-round in their respective industries.
The department virtually invites the public to join the Arbor Day event on Thursday, April 17, from 10:00 am – 11:10 am at https://bit.ly/azarborday. The public can also visit the Capitol Museum during the month of April to check out the poster exhibit. For more information about the event, the UCF program, or to attend the tree planting, contact the UCF team at [email protected].
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