Oregon Department of Forestry names La Grande as Oregon Tree City of the Year
By Garrett Christensen on Tuesday, March 18th, 2025 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – (Release from the Oregon Department of Forestry) The Oregon Dept. of Forestry (ODF) has named La Grande as Oregon’s Tree City of the Year for 2025. La Grande with just under 13,000 residents is the largest city in Northeast Oregon’s Union County. It has maintained its status as a Tree City USA for a remarkable 35 years. To be a Tree City USA a community must meet four requirements set by the national Arbor Day Foundation:
- Maintain a tree board or department
- Have a community tree ordinance
- Spend at least $2 per capita on urban forestry
- Celebrate Arbor Day each year
In 2024 City staff submitted 21 points toward a successful national Arbor Day Foundation Growth Award application, when only 10 were required.
ODF Community Assistance Forester Brittany Oxford said La Grande earned Tree City of the Year honors not only for planting trees but for their active planning to diversify species, inventory their trees, and engage community members as volunteers. The city is also one of only five in Oregon that has at least two peace trees, descendants of trees that survived the atom bombing of Hiroshima during World War II.
MORE COOL TREE FACTS ABOUT LA GRANDE AND WHY THEY EARNED TREE CITY OF THE YEAR.
“La Grande celebrates its 35th consecutive year as a Tree City USA and has achieved a Growth Award for most if not all of those consecutive years! This award recognizes their robust efforts, including the creation of a full-time seasonal position, plans to plant at least 100 trees annually through the “Grow La Grande!” program, and innovative agreements to recycle wood chips for mulching over 500 trees. These accomplishments reflect La Grande’s dedication to community forestry and its significant impact on enhancing the environment for all residents. For these reasons and more, La Grande is a deserving and proud recipient of Oregon’s Tree City of the Year award”
La Grande’s Urban Forester Teresa Gustafson, who is retiring at the end of the year after 18 years with the City of La Grande said of the award, “La Grande builds its community forestry program through outreach and urban forestry policy. We recently completed our Parks & Recreation Master Plan, identifying urban forestry projects important to the community. La Grande has also received grant funding that will boost our efforts to foster community engagement and expand the density and diversity of our urban forest canopy, so there’s exciting work to come! It’s great to receive this recognition, and to be chosen as the Oregon Tree City of the Year.”
