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News | March 5, 2019

DSCC certified as a Tree City USA

By Nicole Goicochea DLA Installation Management – Operations Columbus, Environmental Division

Defense Supply Center Columbus was certified as a Tree City USA Feb. 19.

The Tree City USA program is a program sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service and state forestry that provides the framework necessary for communities to manage and expand their urban forest.

More than 3,400 communities have committed to become a Tree City USA, including DSCC and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

The Tree City USA initiative is an example of a strong partnership with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

DSCC achieved Tree City USA status by meeting four core standards of sound urban forestry management: maintaining a tree board, having a tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry and celebrating Arbor Day.

DSCC planted over 160 trees during 2018.

The Environmental Division is implementing a tree permit system to prevent future planting of invasive species.

“Studies have found trees can improve indoor and outdoor air quality, cool an entire area and improve morale. Trees can also be used as wind breaks and screening,” said Nicole Goicochea, Defense Logistics Agency Installation Operations Columbus Lead Environmental Protection Specialist.

Several studies over the last two decades have chronicled the benefits of trees. Additional feedback from the studies include:

  • Office workers with a view of trees report significantly less stress and more satisfaction. 
    • Chungbuk National University, South Korea, 2007
  • Trees remove pollution from the atmosphere, improving air quality and human health.
    • U.S. Forest Service, 2013
  • Roadside trees reduce nearby INDOOR air pollution by more than 50 percent.
    • Lancaster University, United Kingdom, 2013
  • Trees in urban parks and recreation areas are estimated to improve outdoor leisure and recreation experiences in the United States by $2 billion per year.
    • Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
  • Trees lower surface and air temperatures by providing shade. Shaded surfaces may be 20–45 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the peak temperatures of unshaded materials.
    • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
  • Trees cool the city by up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit by shading our homes and streets and releasing water vapor into the air through their leaves. Evaporation of water from trees has a cooling influence.
    • Carnegie Institution, 2011
  • Hospital patients recovering from surgery who had a view of a grove of trees through their windows required fewer pain relievers, experienced fewer complications, and left the hospital sooner than similar patients who had a view of a brick wall.
    • Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission


        For more information about DLA Land and Maritime Environmental Division, visit the division's webpage.