Politics & Government
Burlingame Celebrates Tree City Status
Burlingame celebrates three decades of tree excellence.
Burlingame residents often refer to their town as the City of Trees and were given official recognition of living up to that moniker Wednesday.
Burlingame City officials, staff, residents and students gathered at in celebration of more than three decades of being named a Tree City USA. To qualify, cities must have a city tree ordinance, a tree governing body, an urban forestry program and a program observing Arbor Day.
“This is the 33rd year the City of Burlingame has been named a Tree City,” said Parks and Recreation Director Margaret Glomstad, noting the 18,000 Burlingame trees in parks, medians and street trees.
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The National Arbor Day Foundation and Cal Fire dedicate Tree Cities, and Burlingame was the fifth California city ever given this honor.
Burlingame prides itself on its tree population, and the Burlingame Historical Society consistently shows dedication to the preservation of the eucalyptus trees along El Camino Real. This dedications is especially important as development in suburban towns throughout the country continue tearing trees down.
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“This area here is called suburbia. This is what a suburb is,” said Mayor Jerry Deal. “Suburbia is where a developer cuts down all the trees and then names the streets after them.”
Students from , and Elementary Schools gave presentations and read poems about trees before planting four new trees in the park.
The sun shone brightly as Mayor Deal displayed a Tree City flag to be flown in town. In addition to a flag, the City has a sign signifying its Tree City status at its entrance.
“What that sign says is to other people that are coming here is that this community cares about their environment,” said a Cal Fire official. “Trees are important everyday of the year."
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