GAINESVILLE — Gainesville has been dubbed a tree city for the past 20 years, and 2008 is no different.

Today, which is Arbor Day, Gainesville will be crowned with it’s 21st Tree City USA award, which is handed out by the Arbor Day Foundation and the National Association of State Foresters.

The Tree City award is based on four basic standards: a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, a community forestry program with an annual budget of at least $2 per capita and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.

Gainesville has complied with standards for 21 years, but officials say they are still trying to improve the city’s green cover.

"We are losing 5.9 acres a day in our green cover (in Hall County)," said Connie Propes, longtime Beautification Committee tree chairwoman for the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce. "It is over 1,900 acres a year that we are losing. It’s taking our oxygen away from us.

"You can cut down a tree that has been there for 200 or 300 years, but you have to put it back with something that is so miniscule, it would take another 200 or 300 years to get to that point."

A recent study done through Keep Hall Beautiful and the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce’s Beautification Committee found that Hall County lost about 15 percent of its forest cover in the last 20 years, with the most significant loss of trees happening in recent years, according to a January report in The Times.

As it stands, Gainesville’s tree ordinance currently seems too lenient to some.

"(When) verbalizing, they (city officials) are in agreement when it comes to the bottom line — it’s the dollar," Propes said. "One of the things that we have talked about in the Beautification Committee is if the city or county work together in hiring an arborist."

Gainesville mayor Myrtle Figueras said she believes Gainesville is still a tree-friendly city, even with widespread growth.

"All of us really, really want our quality of life to be lasting," she said. "I believe that most people in Gainesville, even if we have a developer that comes along and he would like to cut this many trees, that person is willing to add trees back."

But in the meantime, Gainesville and Hall County do have some things to be proud of — the abundance of Champion Trees in the area.

The Hall County Champion Trees is a program through the Georgia Forestry Commission designed to find the largest trees in the county for recognition.

"Throughout Hall County there are 115 Champion Trees and 17 state champions," said Doug Andrews, chief forest ranger with the Hall-Banks County division of the Georgia Forestry Commission.

Six new Hall County Champion Trees will be honored today, Andrews said.

A flowering dogwood and eastern redbud at Lanier Technical College are both 26 feet tall; a paper mulberry at Lester Radiator is 20 feet tall; a Burford holly at Gainesville State College is 16 feet tall; and a local Japanese magnolia owned by Tom Reins — which is also a state champion — is 38 feet tall.

The largest, owned by Rick Gailey, is a white oak that is 241 inches in circumference, 98 feet tall and has a 129 foot crown spread.

The Champion Tree recognition is among many other events at today’s Arbor Day celebration.

"The three art winners will be recognized," Propes said. "And there is going to be an announcement about the initiative by the Chamber."

The initiative by the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce is part of its Centennial Project, which marks it 100th year this year.

"The chamber actually unveiled their idea of dressing up the roadways that enter Gainesville to make Gainesville look beautiful as you are coming in from all of the expressways," Figueras said. "It’s I-985 Exit 20 and Exit 22, but they are going to begin at Exit 20 with the Beautification Project.

"This is in partnership with Keep Hall Beautiful, the city (of Gainesville), the county and whomever else wants to contribute.

"It is going to be good to leave a lasting legacy for the 100th anniversary of the chamber."

Speakers at the program include the chamber’s Kit Dunlap, Denise Deal, Figueras and Hall County chairman Tom Oliver.

The public is welcome to attend and all attendees will receive a seedling, according to Propes.

"We have a bunch of seedlings ... there are a choice of five different kinds," she said. "And we’ll have refreshments."