LINCOLN CITY, Ore. -- Lincoln City Parks and Recreation has received a grant from the non-profit Oregon Community Trees to help with a planned Arbor Week event in Regatta Park in April. Parks and Recreation will center the celebrations around an old-growth Sitka spruce in the park which may be older than 400 years and over 200 feet tall. In addition to cutting a ribbon draped around the old spruce, attendees will enjoy music and freshments. They can also apply to be a Parks and Recreation volunteer. Parks volunteer duties including planting new trees in Lincoln City's public spaces.

In addition to providing refreshments, the grant from Oregon Community Trees will help Parks and Recreation purchase a tent canopy to provide shade and shelter from rain at outdoor events, starting with this year's Arbor Week celebration. One criteria for winning the grant is being a Tree City USA, a status Lincoln City has held for 10 years.

Oregon Community Trees promotes healthy urban and community forests. The organization assists community groups, local governments and schools throughout the state with expertise and grants that support leadership, education, awareness and advocacy for urban and community forestry.

Sitka spruce grow naturally only along the Pacific coast from Alaska to northern California. These long-lived trees can reach over 300 feet in height, making them one of the tallest conifer species on earth.

Over 143 million board feet of Sitka spruce were logged in Oregon and other coastal states during World War I, mainly to supply wood for airplanes. Today, Sitka spruce is logged to make pulp for paper manufacture. Some wood is also used in ladders and to make soundboards for guitars and other stringed instruments.
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