The city of Moscow was named a 2025 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation, and the University of Idaho received the Tree Campus Higher Education Award at the 2026 Arbor Day tree planting ceremony on April 24. Moscow has been named a tree city every year since 1993.
“I think for those of us who’ve been in Moscow a long time understand what that means, what the value added is,” Moscow Mayor Hailey Lewis said. “Looking back to historic photos of campus and of Moscow, it’s unrecognizable.”
Urban forests can help absorb the sound of traffic by up to 40%, keep neighborhoods 7-9 degrees Fahrenheit cooler and reduce energy costs up to 25% by shading buildings and protecting buildings from winter winds. Trees also increase the property values of homes, mitigating the impacts of storm water and soil erosion and absorb carbon dioxide.
Lewis said that trees are a major part of the city’s identity, and are frequently complimented about Moscow when she is speaking with community members.
The speech and planting ceremony was held at the pollinator garden on the UI campus, which is located north of the Guy Wicks Field along Paradise Path. The pollinator garden was originally established by the Society of Conservation Biology in 2018, but was revitalized in 2025 and has since become a symbol for cooperation and conservation efforts along with the Student Chapter of American Society for Landscape Architects.
“I want to emphasize this garden is not the creation of one individual or even one club, but a community of people coming together to create something amazing,” said SCB president Tallulah Stafford.
Student organizations and other volunteers have invasive species and weeds from the garden and re-establishing native plants, which will encourage and support pollinators such as solitary bees, butterflies, other insects and hummingbirds.
Lewis said that years ago when she lived on a street, the semicircle from the original pollinator garden was forgotten about. It was something that runners and dog walkers would pass by without a second thought.
“Here we are several years later and it means something,” Lewis said. “I love hearing that runners are wanting to stop and talk about how to get involved.”
Lewis also highlighted the Moscow City Tree Commission, one of the four requirements for a city to be certified as a tree city, who works to maintain old trees, plant new trees and remove dead trees. Last year, the city of Moscow planted 420 trees, burned 25 trees, removed 47 trees and spent $3.21 per capita on tree maintenance.
The other requirements to be a tree city is a community tree ordinance, to spend at least $2.00 per capita annually to maintain the tree program and celebrate Arbor Day.
“Stewardship is also about follow-through, maintenance. And so, if you are a student who is here for a little time or a long time, thank you for being here. I hope you want to come back and hug a tree,” Lewis said.
Dennis Becker, Dean of the College of Natural Resources, spoke on behalf of UI President Scott Green. Since 1995, with the partnering with the Idaho Correspondence Commission, the UI Pitkin Nursery has given away more than half a billion seedlings to schools and communities across the state of Idaho.
The tree planted at the Arbor Day celebration was one of between 15 million and 20 million trees planted each year sourced from the Pitkin nursery.
According to Becker, for every tree that is harvested in the state of Idaho, seven more are planted.
“Truly a sustainable resource,” Becker said. “On this Arbor Day, let’s celebrate one of Idaho’s greatest renewable resources, trees.”
Joshua Reisenfeld can be reached at [email protected].