MAYOR BRONIN, CITY OF HARTFORD CELEBRATE ‘ARBOR DAY’ AT BUSHNELL PARK

Published on April 29, 2022

HARTFORD, CONN (April 29, 2022) – Today, Mayor Luke Bronin joined KNOX and Hartford tree advocates, along with volunteers, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Arbor Day at Bushnell Park. They highlighted on-going efforts to restore Hartford’s Tree Canopy by engaging the city, community organizations, Hartford-based businesses, and volunteers. This year the City of Hartford, KNOX, and the Bushnell Park Foundation are collaborating to bring the park’s tree plan to life. This includes tree care for mature trees and KNOX’s planting of over 100 trees--including 54 in the coming weeks.

Thanks to a donation from the Connecticut Tree Protective Association, KNOX, Mayor Bronin, and other partners planted a Shagbark Hickory tree.

This effort continues on KNOX’s work planting trees last year. Thanks to the support of the City of Hartford, donors, businesses, and volunteers, KNOX was able to plant over 650 trees, including nearly 250 in Hartford parks and over 400 throughout neighborhood corridors and avenues. To help address tree equity, KNOX also planted over 300 trees in priority 1 neighborhoods, which have the highest need for trees due to low existing canopy coverage.

“I’m proud to join dozens of volunteers today, along with Hartford-based businesses and KNOX Hartford, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Arbor Day,” said Mayor Bronin. “Our community knows how important it is to keep our parks green and clean, and how much value trees bring to our streets and neighborhoods. I want to acknowledge the support of Eversource Energy, Travelers, and the Tree Protective Association for organizing today’s efforts. Thanks to the leadership and dedication of organizations like KNOX, we’ve planted hundreds of trees and started several community gardens, and there’s more to come this year as we work to keep our city beautiful and sustainable.”

“Last year KNOX planted over 650 trees to help improve air quality, conserve energy, and reducing carbon dioxide,” said Patrick Doyle, Executive Director of KNOX. “Building on the vision of our founder, our efforts are designed to ensure everyone in Hartford has access to these benefits.”

“This year’s progress has been made possible through the joint efforts of advocates, community organizations, and city leaders," said City Council President Maly Rosado. "When I drive through our city I see the difference a tree can make. They do more than just provide shade and clean our air. They give comfort to our kids, they inspire other beautification initiatives, and a new tree can spark pride in ones neighborhood. I would like to thank Knox and our many other partners for giving so much to Hartford through the planting and maintenance of our trees. We are so grateful for your commitment and dedication to this very important work.”

Earlier in the day, volunteers from Travelers walked around Bushnell Park and completed activities to help with the care of young trees in the park, as well as beautification around the Charter Oak Scion. Additionally, crews from Eversource provided needed tree care to protect large mature trees that add significant canopy and beauty to the park.

KNOX uses horticulture as a catalyst for community engagement, forging partnerships between residents, businesses, and government to build stronger, greener, healthier and more beautiful neighborhoods in Hartford. Since its founding in 1966, KNOX has been a key partner in improving the city of Hartford and is a nationally recognized leader in the field of community greening. Principal services include neighborhood beautification and reforestation, park improvement efforts, development of greenways, the oversight and maintenance of both community gardens and public green spaces and the successful administration of a green jobs training program. More information is available at www.knoxhartford.org.