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Lincoln Parks & Recreation Newsletter, May 2010
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Greetings!
Welcome to the Parks & Recreation newsletter. We hope this becomes a monthly highlight in your
inbox. This month's banner image displays the 3,000 annual tulip bulbs planted at Sunken Gardens. If you haven't done so already, please click the "Join Our Mailing List" button on the left sidebar. Here you can update your profile and select specific interest areas to receive more specific information. The Pioneers Park Nature Center sends a quarterly supplemental newsletter out to patrons, and you can join this list by selecting the Nature Center as an interest area. We are continually adding areas of interests to ensure you are getting the information you want. Also, if you know someone who would like to receive our e-newsletter, please click the forward button found at the bottom of this email. Please, feel free to give us feedback on the newsletter as we want
to make it as reader friendly as possible. You can email me directly at sroach@lincoln.ne.gov with your
comments and suggestions. |
Parks & Recreation Celebrated Earth Week!
City Forester Steve Schwab featured with Boy Scout Troop 61  |
This year marked the
40th anniversary of Earth Day.
As the popularity of the day has grown, we now extend a one-day
celebration to a whole week! Parks and
Recreation is a huge supporter of activities and events that raise awareness
about our environment and get people into action. Some of the events included: -
Boy Scouts planted eight oak trees along the
Rock Island Trail. The tree planting was
organized by Scout Leader, Dan King, and The Nebraska Trails Foundation
representative, Lyle Vannier. The Nebraska Trails Foundation paid for the
trees and the Scouts provided the labor.
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Annual Arbor Day ceremony and tree planting
ceremony was held April 22 at Arnold
Elementary School;
- During an Arbor Day ceremony at Pioneers Park
Nature Center, employees from First Tier Bank planted one of the 51 trees the
bank donated to the Center.
- Additional tree planting ceremonies were held at
McPhee Elementary School and McPhee Community Learning Center.
- Pioneers
Park Nature
Center also hosted green
building tours as well as led discussions on "Grow Your Own", Go Green Clean
and Think Recycling;
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A celebration of the 40th Earth Day took place
at Antelope Park on April 24. A 5k fun run kicked off the day on the MoPac
Trail.
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Parks & Recreation Receives Grant from Nebraska Environmental Trust
Lincoln Parks and Recreation will receive
$171,060 from the Nebraska Environmental Trust for the "Greening of Antelope
Valley Park System Project". The project is
one of the 88 projects receiving $14,970,328 in grant awards from the Nebraska
Environmental Trust this year.
The overall
project objective is to feature a variety of green techniques in the Antelope Valley park system to reduce long-term
operational costs, lower energy consumption, and improve storm water management
while educating the public about these techniques and how they can use them in
a residential setting. The primary
greening activities will include: -
Demonstrate the effectiveness of using Silva
Cells when planting street trees in Union Plaza;
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Install pervious pavers in conjunction with
street trees and Silva Cells;
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Install green roof on Active Living
Center;
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Install photovoltaic cells and support
structure, and wind turbines; and,
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Provide education to the public about the above
green applications through signage.
The Nebraska
Legislature created the Nebraska Environmental Trust in 1992. Using
revenue from the Nebraska Lottery, the Trust has provided over $157 million in
grants to 1,231 projects across the state. Anyone - citizens, organizations,
communities, farmers and businesses - can apply for funding to protect habitat,
improve water quality and establish recycling programs in Nebraska. The Nebraska Environmental
Trust works to preserve, protect and restore our natural resources for future
generations. |
Lincoln has been named a "Tree City USA" for the 33rd consecutive year
To qualify for the Tree City USA designation, a community must
meet four standards established by the Arbor Day Foundation and the National Association of State Foresters. They include having a tree board or department,
a tree care ordinance, a community forestry program with an annual budget of at
least $2 per City resident, and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.
City Forester Steve Schwab said Lincoln was again the only
community in the U.S. to achieve all five Tree City USA designations. The other
four: - The City has earned the Tree City USA Growth Award for the 19th consecutive year.
- Communities earning the growth award for ten years receive the Sterling Tree City USA designation, which Lincoln and 26 other communities initially received
in 2000.
- The Lincoln Electric System has been a Tree Line USA utility for five consecutive years by meeting award standards related to proper
tree maintenance, utility line clearance, energy conservation and community
tree planting and public education.
- For the past two years, both UNL and Nebraska Wesleyan have
earned the Tree Campus USA Award for their promotion of healthy trees and student
involvement.
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Thanks for your support!
Supporters of Public Gardens listen to comments provided by Lynn Johnson and Luann Finke.  | Thank you to everyone that supported Lincoln's public gardens by
attending the 15th Anniversary Open House at Finke Gardens and Nursery. Over $1,250 was generously donated by Rich and Luann Finke from the sales
during the weekend of April 9-11 to the Lincoln Parks Foundation for the
endowment of the Rotary Strolling Garden at Antelope Park.
For more ways you can support Lincoln Parks & Recreation programs
in Lincoln,
visit lincolnparks.org.
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