CULLMAN, Ala. – The City of Cullman Tree Commission held its monthly meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 24, when Chairman Barry Slatton opened with a call for prospective members. Slatton said he envisions candidates who truly appreciate the hard work the commission is doing to preserve and enhance Cullman’s natural assets.
“If you know of someone who may be a good candidate to be on the Tree Board, please notify Leanne (West), and she will notify me. We want somebody who is truly interested and wants to get involved with aspects of what we’re doing here.” Slatton said. “We want somebody that really wants to participate.”
Member B.J. Morgan updated the commission about Cullman’s arboretum located at Sportsman Lake Park.
“We have our certification; we are certified at the lowest level at this point,” she said, “and we are working on accomplishing what we need to do to go to the second level.”
There are four levels of accreditation for arboreta, according to the Interactive Community of Arboreta. Level one is the level of accreditation awarded to Cullman’s arboretum, and is described as “smaller publicly accessible sites with at least 25 species of woody plants, one or a few employees or volunteers, a governing body, and an arboretum plan. Examples of arboreta at this level may include golf courses, college arboreta, cemeteries, zoos, private estates, or towns with an organized tree collection.”
Morgan said Cullman’s arboretum is in the process of achieving level two accreditation, described as having “at least 100 species of woody plants, employ paid staff, and have enhanced public education programs and a documented collections policy.” Currently, 63 species of woody plants have been identified at the arboretum, which encompasses the entirety of Sportsman Lake Park.
Tree Commission Consultant Phyllis Hain has taken the lead on Cullman’s Festival of the Trees for the 2023 holiday season, which will be held at the Cullman Wellness and Aquatic Center. Students from local schools will choose a theme and fabricate decorations. Hain said she hopes that involvement from community youth will spark an interest in forestry in Alabama.
“We have completed letters that we hand-delivered to all the schools; we have nine within the city. I’m happy to tell you that out of nine schools, we have had six that have responded very positively and offered a point of contact,” Hain shared.
The Tree Commission will provide a 7-foot tree for each school involved. She added, “(The provided tree) will be ready and prepared for them to come in and just decorate; they get to do all the fun stuff, so why not?”
Opening ceremonies for the Festival of the Trees will be Dec. 2 (time TBD) and the festive display of forestry will be visible throughout the entire month of December.
Leanne West, executive assistant to the mayor and Tree Commission recorder addressed and updated the board regarding applications for the Tree City U.S.A. Award and the Growth Award.
“The deadline to apply for both is Dec. 1, I’ve already started the applications online but I am still waiting on some information I can use to complete that,” said West. “For the Growth Award, it looks like we have about 16 points that we could use and we only need 10, so that’s good.”
The Growth Award is given to Tree City U.S.A. towns that have built a sustainable forestry program in the community, meeting milestones and annual activities in five categories. Milestones and notable activities earn points, and cities must achieve at least 10 points to qualify for the Growth Award.
West also touched on the 2024 Arbor Day Poster Contest, with its annual theme being “Trees are terrific… in cities and towns.” West detailed parameters and rules that local students must follow to enter a poster into the contest. Posters must be original artwork of a fifth-grade student; can be made with markers, colored pencils, pens, chalk, watercolors, ink, tempera paint, acrylic or paint pens; and no collages will be accepted. Poster sizes must be no smaller than 8.5” x 11” and no larger than 14” x 18”.
The board voted and approved that the posters at the school level be judged by the City’s Tree Commission, who will choose a first and second-place winner. Both winners will receive a cash prize, courtesy of the Tree Commission; first place will be awarded $50 and second place will be awarded $25. The first-place winner from each school will travel to Montgomery to be judged on the state level.
The City of Cullman Tree Commission meets on the third Tuesday of each even-numbered month in the auditorium of Cullman City Hall, located at 204 Second Ave.NE. The next scheduled meeting will be Dec. 19 beginning at 10 a.m.
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