Tampa earns national recognition as Tree City USA
The City of Tampa is being recognized as a 2025 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation, honoring the city’s commitment to plant, grow, and maintain trees to benefit its community.
The national designation recognizes cities that demonstrate an investment to urban forestry and responsible tree management. To earn Tree City USA recognition, a city must uphold four core standards, including maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry, and participating in an Arbor Day celebration.
The City of Tampa offers several tree programs aimed at increasing its urban canopy, including:
Tree-mendous Tampa: A program that provides free trees for planting on city land, greenways, and street rights-of-way (between the curb and sidewalk). Residents can receive up to two trees per planting year, with a commitment to water them for a year.
Plant Your Heart Out: A community-driven initiative that provides trees for both private and public property. This initiative encourages neighborhood association participation for large-scale, community-driven planting efforts.
Mayor's Tree Giveaway: An annual event providing residents with free trees for their homes.
"Our urban canopy is one of Tampa’s greatest assets, and our trees play a big part in cooling our streets, improving air quality, and reducing stormwater runoff," said Mayor Jane Castor. "Being named a Tree City USA reflects the hard work our team does every day to invest in Tampa’s environment and protect the character of our city."
Through its ongoing urban forestry efforts, the City of Tampa continues to expand and protect its tree canopy through strategic tree planting, routine maintenance of public trees, development review standards that preserve existing canopy, and community education programs that encourage residents to help grow Tampa’s urban forest.
In January, the City hosted its first Tree Town Hall, offering one-on-one planting consultations with a certified arborist, tree giveaways, and more.
Residents can learn more about Tampa’s urban forestry initiatives at Tampa.gov/treesfortampa.