Oak Island Named ‘Tree City USA’ For 2026

Published on March 11, 2026

In late February, the Town of Oak Island was notified by the N.C. Forest Service that it had again been named a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation for 2026.

As part of the public announcement, and to help commemorate this achievement, the Town will host an Arbor Day Celebration on Friday, March 20, 2026 from 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM in Bill Smith Park, located at 4410 Fish Factory Road. The event will feature a Tree Planting Ceremony of TWO Live Oak trees, along with a Check Presentation to the Town from Tree Peace OKI. Attendees will also be able take home a FREE one-gallon Live Oak seedling, donated by Penderlea Farms of Burgaw, NC. 

Tree City USA is a nationwide program that provides a framework for community forestry management, based on a set of core standards established by the Arbor Day Foundation. Arbor Day is celebrated on the "first Friday following March 15" in North Carolina. This year's celebration is being coordinated by the Environmental Advisory Committee, with partnership from the Town's Public Works Department and Tree Peace OKI, a 509(a)(2) non-profit community organization.

Over the past several years the Town of Oak Island has made great strides to preserve, manage, and expand the Town’s Tree Canopy. This includes an exhaustive Tree Canopy Assessment, along with a Heritage Tree Identification Project, and heavily investing in new plantings of the Town's namesake Live Oaks. Residents have joined in these efforts as well, through the popular Adopt-A-Tree program, which has helped to plant more than 250 NEW Live Oaks within the last two years alone.

Through programs like Tree City USA and events such as the Arbor Day Celebration, the Town of Oak Island is again reaffirming its commitment to the restoration and preservation of one of our most important natural resources. To learn more about these efforts, visit the Tree Preservation page at OakIslandNC.gov/TREES.

To view and share the Arbor Day Celebration notice, visit the Town Events page at OakIslandNC.gov/EVENTS or click the link below.

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