The Arbor Day Foundation has recognized Mississippi State University as a registered Tree Campus USA for the past nine years and the City of Starkville as a Tree City USA for the last six years.
There are four requirements for a city trying to obtain Tree City USA status. The city must create and maintain a tree board or department, have a community tree ordinance, spend at least $2 per capita on urban forestry and celebrate Arbor Day. Cities must submit an application every year for an area to maintain this status. 
Mississippi’s Arbor Day is traditionally the second Friday of February every year. In 2022, this fell on Feb. 11. MSU celebrated by planting trees with the Partnership Middle School hosted by MSU Tree Campus Higher Education Advisory Committee, the Partnership Middle School and the university’s campus landscape services.  
In Mississippi, 22 communities have Tree City USA designations, and four universities have Tree Campus USA designations.
Misty Booth, urban and community forestry coordinator of the Mississippi Forestry Commission, often works as a liaison with the Arbor Day Foundation. She noted the similarities between Tree City and Tree Campus recognitions.
“They are two separate recognition programs, but they do complement each other,” Booth said. “For instance, one of the standards of seeing a Tree Campus is that you have a Tree Campus Committee or advisory committee, and one of the positions on that committee is a member from the local community in the city where the campus is located … A lot of times that decision is filled by a tree board member from the local city.” 
Booth explained the differences between Tree Cities and Campuses.
“But they are two separate recognitions, which is why you see that Mississippi State (University) has been a Tree Campus for nine years and Starkville has been a Tree City for six years, because they’re not the same designation,” Booth said. “And in theory, you could have a university like Mississippi State be a Tree Campus and the local community not be a Tree City.”
According to the Arbor Day Foundation website, there are many benefits to obtaining Tree City status— for the environment, the residents and even the wildlife. Mayor Lynn Spruill said Starkville is made better by its status.
“I think we acknowledge that trees are a part of the resources that make us a better place,” Spruill said. “It provides shade. It simply eases the temperatures associated with the heat in the South. Trees contribute to cleaning the air by producing oxygen and taking out CO2. They provide habitats for wildlife and certainly give us fuel and paper, and other products are provided.” 
Spruill noted why trees are necessary in a city landscape.
“But in large part for the community itself, (trees are) just an increase in beauty and landscaping, and it provides some of that kind of feel of beautification, which has always been very important to me,” Spruill said. “I think trees make our parks better and make us feel better about being somewhere.”
Alana Tucker, program manager for Tree City USA of the Arbor Day Foundation, also mentioned the good that comes from trees. 
“… city trees are more important than ever, and that’s because our climate is changing, and trees help to mitigate that,” Tucker said. “And so, this work that your community is doing to earn its Tree City recognition every year is really not just helping improve the lives of all the people that live in the community, but it’s also helping to sustain the community in the long run.”
Tucker summed up the goal of the Arbor Day Foundation. 
“Our mission is to plant, nurture and celebrate trees to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees,” Tucker said. “And so, we do that in a lot of different ways. We definitely do a lot of actual planting of trees. But we also do a lot of celebration of people who are planting trees and our Tree City USA program is one of the ways that we do that.”