NEWS RELEASE
                            Public Communications Division
                            Department of Customer Services
                            City & County of Honolulu
                            523-4385

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 29, 2001

ENVIRONMENTALISTS COMMEMORATE ARBOR DAY

            The 129^th anniversary of Arbor Day will be celebrated in Honolulu on Friday (November 2) at 10:30 a.m. with the planting of a wiliwili tree and special recognition of Royal Elementary School students for their environmental initiatives.  Mayor Jeremy Harris and the City’s Urban Forestry Division of the Department of Parks and Recreation will join the Outdoor Circle and other representatives from the green industry at the Ewa end of of Aina Moana Park (Magic Island) near the parking lot.

            City officials hope to use the event to increase public awareness of the effects of improper charcoal disposal by removing six wiliwili trees that have been severely diseased and irreversibly damaged due to charcoal dumping at their base.

             The City and County of Honolulu has been certified as Tree City USA by the National Arbor Foundation for 21 consecutive years and has celebrated Arbor Day for 96 years.

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