COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The western Iowa city of Council Bluffs has received a Tree City USA Award — one of 80 Iowa communities to qualify for the status. The award was presented by the Arbor Day Foundation and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on April 3. To qualify, communities must meet several established standards. They must have a tree ordinance, qualified leadership running the municipal tree program, a minimum of $2 per capita spent on trees annually and a celebration to mark Arbor Day, a holiday first observed in 1872, which celebrates the importance of trees.

State forester Jeff Goerndt says Council Bluffs has set an example for other Iowa communities and demonstrated “the great value of trees in providing multiple benefits for future generations.”