Since 1980, the Arbor Day Foundation has honored Sunriver as a Tree City USA for its long-standing commitment to community forest management.

Of the 60-plus Tree City communities in Oregon, Sunriver is the only unincorporated community to still receive such an honor due our very early involvement and before unincorporated communities became ineligible for the award.

Award criteria, set by the Arbor Day Foundation, includes:

• Spending a minimum dollar amount per capita on community forestry activities
• Having ordinances (e.g. governing documents) that include who is responsible for tree and forest care within the community
• Celebrate Arbor Day each year
• Maintaining a tree board or department

SROA maintains a strong commitment to natural resource management particularly with regards to forest health and wildfire risk reduction.

“The credit goes to the SROA board and Sunriver community,” said Patti Gentiluomo, Sunriver Owners Association Natural Resources director. “Thanks to their unwavering support, we’ve been able to maintain this long-standing honor.”

Each year, SROA performs ladder fuels reduction and other forest health activities on commons throughout Sunriver. Contractors, under the direction of SROA, perform tree and shrub trimming and removal to reduce the risk of wildfire and to improve overall forest health and safety.

Tree City USA is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Service.