The Town of Smithtown Department of Environment and Waterways (DEW) is celebrating Arbor Day 2023 by planting 200 spring street trees all across the Town of Smithtown. This is part of the Town’s committed investment towards maintaining a healthy environment and robust urban forestry program.
Arbor Day is often celebrated on the last Friday in April as a day to promote education and awareness on the importance of trees in the community. In 2023, Arbor Day will be observed on Friday, April 28th. The Town of Smithtown recognizes Arbor Day each year, often accompanied by tree plantings and other sustainable actions.
The Town of Smithtown was first declared Tree City USA in 1986 by the National Arbor Day Foundation. Since then, the Town has taken great pride in managing a sustainable streetscape lined with trees. The Town of Smithtown has proudly maintained its reputation as Tree City USA for over 36 years, in addition to recent efforts to begin a street tree census, and to identify invasive species.
DEW has received three consecutive Growth Awards from the Arbor Day Foundation for exceeding the basic requirements of street tree care. The Growth Award is given when a town completes major milestones and annual activities to build a community forestry program.
DEW has planted 2,000 trees since 2019. Since the street tree inventory project began in April 2020, 20,000 trees out of an estimated 50,000 street trees within the township have been cataloged. Preliminary data from the I-Tree 10/13/22 Report shows that the Town of Smithtown has a greater than 30% tree canopy cover.
Residents can request street tree plantings in front of their residence by contacting the Department of Environment and Waterways via email at DEW@smithtownny.gov or by phone at (631)360-7514.