City of Bend, Park and Rec to observe Arbor Week

The Bend Park and Recreation District and the City of Bend have partnered to maintain the Tree City USA certification and the Bend City Council recently designated April 1-7 as “Arbor Week for the City of Bend.”

Both agencies are committed to public activities designed to educate citizens and youth about the importance of trees to our community, they said in a joint news release.

“The City Council’s Arbor Week Proclamation demonstrates the city is committed to Bend’s urban forest, and the Bend Park and Recreation District is happy to be involved with this year’s Arbor Week events,” said Jeff Amaral, natural resources manager, Bend Park and Recreation District.

Here are ways the community will celebrate Arbor Week in Bend:

1:30 p.m. on Monday April 2 at Drake Park

Tree planting – Pacific Power and BPRD are co-sponsoring the planting of a new tree in Drake Park for Arbor Week. Students from Highland Elementary School will be on hand to help with the planting. Pine seedlings will be given to the students that participate. This event is open to the public as a celebration of Arbor Week.

9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 5 in Shevlin Park

2018 Central Oregon Natural Resource Field Day — The City and Park District will join Career & Technical Education, Discover Your Forest, Children’s Forest, and the U.S. Forest Service to offer this hands-on, activity based event, targeted at students. There will be career awareness and advanced career exploration workshops led by industry professionals. High school students from across Central Oregon, and youth from COIC and Heart of Oregon Corps, will be in attendance from 9:30 a.m. through 1 p.m. We are anticipating about 200 students.

Students will be participating in activities based on a set schedule. Our goal is to expose students to different careers in natural resources, and excite them to pursue learning related to natural resources.