This Friday, April 29th, marks the 139th anniversary of Arbor Day and to commemorate this holiday, the City of Tampa and Tampa Electric Company (TECO) will partner to plant four large Cathedral Live Oak trees on the 600 block of Franklin Street in downtown Tampa. The event will take place at 9:30 a.m.
For 29 consecutive years, the City of Tampa has been designated a Tree City USA community because of their commitment and progress in meeting urban forestry standards set out by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters. This is TECO's third year being designated as a Tree Line USA utility for demonstrating practices that protect and enhance America's urban forests. The goal of Tree Line USA is to promote safe, reliable electric service and abundant, healthy trees throughout the company's service areas.
Tampa Electric will be giving away free Dogwood tree seedlings and Tampa Parks and Recreation Department will be offering free Longleaf Pine tree seedlings during the Tampa Downtown Market on the mall following the ceremony.
This article appears in Apr 21-27, 2011.