Auburn Honored as Nebraska’s Only 50-Year Tree City USA

Auburn, the first Nebraska community named a Tree City USA, is now the only one in the state to keep that designation every year for five decades.
Nebraska State Forester John Erixson, director of the Nebraska Forest Service, and Christina Hoyt, the agency’s community forestry bureau chief, presented the Nebraska State Forester’s Award to the city during the Oct. 12 Auburn City Council meeting.
Many Nebraska communities have joined since the program started 1976, but Auburn is the only one that has held the designation every year from the start.
“Fifty years of recognition doesn’t happen by chance,” Erixson said.
The forestry officials credited generations of mayors, council members, utility and park staff, tree board members, volunteers, businesses, schools and residents.
Erixson said that work has meant preserving healthy trees, removing hazardous ones, diversifying the city’s canopy and paying for maintenance year after year.
Hoyt said Tree City USA has become more than a designation for Auburn. It is now part of the city’s identity.
The award comes during Tree City USA’s 50th anniversary year.
Deputy City Clerk Sheri McMillen and a tree board member said the designation has been a real point of pride for the city, and she is glad to keep the tradition going.
Auburn’s recognition reaches beyond Nebraska as well. The city has been named one of the Tree Cities of the World each of the past four years.