Rochester and Monroe Co. celebrate 41st Annual Arbor Day

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The City of Rochester and Monroe County celebrated their joint Annual Arbor Day on Friday.

Monroe County Executive Adam Bello and City Department of Environmental Services Commissioner Richard Perrin II held the celebration at the Trenton and Pamela Jackson Recreation Center at 485 N. Clinton Avenue.

The first Arbor Day celebration for both the City and County was in 1983 at Highland Park where organizers decided to mark the event by planting a Bishop McQuaid Lilac.

Keeping with the tradition, this year a Sugar Maple and an Eastern Red Bud Tree were planted and a joint proclamation was read to commemorate the event.

To bring more trees to Rochester, the City announced a Tree Expansion and Beautification Initiative in 2022 which has seen 2,000 trees planted to date. A further number of 4,000 trees are planned to be planted by 2025 with the goal of 70,000 trees in total.

An Urban Forest Master Plan draft is also in the works thanks to the City’s Forestry Division.

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