The Arbor Day Foundation will present a 2009 Arbor Day Award to the Streetscape Program of Fort Myers Beach for its dedication to planting trees and conservation efforts.

The Streetscape Program of Fort Myers Beach is one of 20 individuals and organizations that will be honored by the Arbor Day Foundation for environmental stewardship at the annual Arbor Day Awards Banquet, which will be held at Lied Lodge & Conference Center in Nebraska City. The event, hosted by the Arbor Day Foundation, will be held on Saturday, April 25.

The Arbor Day Awards annually honors innovative and extraordinary individuals and organizations that are involved in tree planting and conservation practices. Since 1972, the Foundation has presented Arbor Day Awards for work at the international, national, state, and community levels to recognize conservation efforts such as tree planting and care, Arbor Day celebrations, education, community projects, and roadside beautification.

The Town of Fort Myers Beach Streetscape program will receive the Lady Bird Johnson Award for roadside beautification efforts.

Residents of Fort Myers Beach banded together to protect and enhance its environmental resources through its Streetscape program. This program makes trees available to residents to plant on private property along the city’s main and side streets. This public-private partnership offers drought-, wind- and salt-tolerant trees to residents for half the cost.

So far, nearly 2,000 trees have been planted, and volunteers have spent hundreds of hours distributing trees and educating property owners on tree benefits. The Town of Fort Myers Beach published an educational booklet called “Shades of Fort Myers Beach,” which provides information about the Streetscape Program and tree-care practices.

“It is communities like the Town of Fort Myers Beach Streetscape that are truly making a difference by putting its values into thoughtful actions that will have a lasting, positive effect in the world,” said John Rosenow, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. “The efforts of our Arbor Day Award winners are a shining example of conservation practices for people everywhere.”

The Arbor Day Foundation has granted the Arbor Day Awards since 1972. Past winners include Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai; Chicago Mayor Richard Daley; former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall; veteran newsman Bill Kurtis; the Toyota Motor Corporation; and the Walt Disney Company.