First-ever Chicago Park District Location Receives Morton Arboretum ArbNet Level 1 Accreditation

Palmer Square Park community residents take lead in stewarding the formation of arboretum over the course of 45 years

The Chicago Park District joined the Homeowners Association of Palmer Square and The Morton Arboretum in celebrating the official accreditation of Palmer Square Park as a Level I arboretum by the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program. This is the first Chicago Park District location to be designated as an accredited arboretum through ArbNet, administered by The Morton Arboretum and the only accreditation program in the world specific to arboreta. The designation recognizes the park’s commitment to growing and maintaining a thriving tree canopy and preserving a variety of tree species at Palmer Square Park, located at 2200 N. Kedzie Ave., including a collection of over 28 varieties of trees and a historic elm grove.

“We’re proud to partner with the Palmer Square Park community and Chicago Park District on the first Chicago park accredited as an arboretum,” said The Morton Arboretum’s Vice President of Science and Conservation Dr. Murphy Westwood, on behalf of the ArbNet program. “Level I arboretum accreditation–as achieved by Palmer Square Park Arboretum–encapsulates the core functions of an arboretum and represents a significant accomplishment in an organization’s commitment to care for and educate the public about its trees. Palmer Square Park Arboretum joins a global community of 850 accredited arboreta growing every day to help advance the planting, study and conservation of trees and the many benefits they provide.”

An arboretum is a living museum of trees and other woody plants curated by an organization that has a commitment to care for the collection and educate the public about trees and other woody plants.

The tree grove at the 7.69-acre Logan Square community park, created as part of Chicago’s historic boulevard system in the early 1870s, and incorporated into the Park District in 2013, was submitted for consideration for an ArbNet Level I accreditation by the HOA of Palmer Square after 45 years of being active caretakers of the green space. The Level I designation requires an arboretum plan for the maintenance and care of the plants, as well as a minimum number of 25 different types of trees or woody plants that have been planted and are growing in accordance with the arboretum plan. At Palmer Square Park, there is a combination of native and non-native trees, including hybrid elm trees developed to be more resilient to Dutch elm disease and planted in the 1980s as part of a collaboration with The Morton Arboretum’s late dendrologist and researcher Dr. George Ware.

With the help of The Morton Arboretum, the trees in the Palmer Square Park arboretum collection have been inventoried to identify them taxonomically, and a GPS map of the park’s hybrid elm trees has been completed. The public can learn about the Palmer Square Park trees and arboretum from volunteer caretakers during educational walks and events focused on the trees, as the accreditation requires.

“What ArbNet means to me is education. It’s a chance to show what’s possible when neighbors work together. To teach kids what it takes to grow and protect trees- not in theory, but in real life,” said Steve Hier, founder of the Homeowners Association of Palmer Square.

The Park District is in the midst of a multi-year initiative to expand its forestry team and to improve the resiliency of its urban forest, and has partnered with The Morton Arboretum’s Chicago Region Trees Initiative and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to conduct a citywide inventory and management plan of the approximately 250,000 trees planted in Chicago parks, and support community engagement around trees citywide. After record flooding and high air pollution levels in Chicago, the upkeep of our city’s tree canopy is more important than ever. Trees provide shade, but equally as vital, they improve air quality and stormwater retention.

“As the city’s lead green steward and manager of 250,000 trees citywide, the Chicago Park District is proud to accept and uphold this accreditation with support from the local residents that spearheaded this ambitious effort,” said Chicago Park District Superintendent and CEO Carlos Ramirez-Rosa. “This project underscores our commitment to building a greener city and further supports the importance of building community through environmental stewardship. With support from our partners at The Morton Arboretum, this park will serve as a model for celebrating our trees citywide as we work to create a better, more sustainable urban park system.”