(HELENA) – Carroll College has been recognized as a Tree Campus Higher Education school by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management. This program celebrates colleges and universities for promoting healthy trees and engaging students and staff in the spirit of conservation.
Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen, during his tenure as president of Carroll College from 1957-1962, is largely credited with initiating the beautification of Carroll’s campus. He strongly believed that the landscape should match the spiritual and academic wonder that permeated the college.1 Many of the trees and shrubs that grace Carroll’s campus to this day were personally planted by the Archbishop himself.
“Carroll College is well-renowned for its beauty with its lush landscaping and abundant variety of trees encompassing our 63-acre campus,” said Carroll College President John Cech. “Our Grounds crew do a phenomenal job keeping Archbishop Hunthausen’s vision alive by creating a healthy and inviting outdoor environment for our students to lay a blanket or hang a hammock under the shade of our magnificent trees.”
This past Arbor Day, held annually the last week of April, Carroll students participated in planting a young Elm tree above the upper soccer field as a memorial to Eleanor Dougherty ’04, a Saints soccer goalie from 2000-2003.
According to Director of Grounds John Juntunen, Carroll hopes to partner in the near future with Montana’s Department of Natural Resources (DNRC) to update its tree inventory which was last completed in 2012. Juntunen estimates that Carroll currently has between 650-700 trees and the Grounds Department plants between 12-15 new trees per year.
The Arbor Day Foundation is the world’s largest membership nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees. Its Tree Campus Higher Education program began in 2008 to encourage colleges and universities to plant trees on their campuses.
The Tree Campus Higher Education program honors colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and engaging staff and students in conservation goals. Carroll achieved the distinction by meeting Tree Campus Higher Education’s five standards, including maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance, and student service-learning project. Currently, there are 411 campuses across the United States with this recognition with four campuses in Montana. Learn more at treecampushighered.org.
1 Robert R. Swartout Jr., Bold Minds & Blessed Hands, pg. 78-79