Honeoye Falls Village Offices. File Photo
BY Village of Honeoye Falls Conservation Board
The Village of Honeoye Falls has been awarded the Tree City USA designation. This award is granted to a community that has satisfied the requirements established by the National Arbor Day Foundation. The description of this foundation reads:
We inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees.
Founded in 1972 — the centennial of the first Arbor Day observance — the Arbor Day Foundation is the largest 501(c)3 nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees. More than 1 million members, supporters, and valued partners have helped us plant more than 350 million trees in neighborhoods, communities, cities, and forests throughout the world to ensure a greener and healthier future for everyone.
Their vision is to help others understand and use trees as a solution to many of the global issues we face today, including air quality, water quality, a changing climate, deforestation, poverty, and hunger.
The impact we make on our world is accomplished through our conservation and education programs. We work to restore forests, improve tree cover in communities, and inspire the next generation of tree planters to ensure this important work endures.
To qualify as a Tree City USA community, you must meet four standards established by the Arbor Day Foundation and the National Association of State Foresters. These standards were established to ensure that every qualifying community would have a viable tree management program and that no community would be excluded because of size.
Establishment of a Tree Board. In 2020 the Village of Honeoye Falls established an official Tree Board, which the Village Conservation Board oversees.
Establishment of a Tree Care Ordinance: The Village Board adopted a resolution to incorporate, in the Village Code, the Tree Maintenance the Village does routinely every year.
A Community Forestry Program with an Annual Budget of at Least $2 Per Capita: The Village of Honeoye Falls actively maintains a budget of tree maintenance that exceeds that threshold.
An Arbor Day Observance and Proclamation: On April 28th, 2017 The Village of Honeoye Falls officially through Proclamation recognized Arbor and Earth Day. Every year the Village celebrates these days at our Annual Environmental Fair. Educating the community about on-going environmental topics, and a tree giveaway are some of the activities of the day.
With these (4) Pillars of the Tree City designation the Village of Honeoye Falls is in a good position to apply for Grant funding from the NYSDEC, National Arbor Day Foundation and the USDA National Forest Service. Preserving and Maintaining the Village Canopy and Walkability of the Village is one of the components in the Village Comprehensive Plan and makes the Village a wonderful place to live and work.
