Moraine Valley Community College

Moraine Valley Community College is located in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, Palos Hills, Il. Situated on nearly 300 acres of land, surrounded by forest preserves, the college serves 26 area communities. Since its inception, conservation and beautification of the campus has been a priority. In 1974, the Board of Trustees dedicated 40 acres to be preserved as a natural prairie for the use of academics and recreation. During the 2008 referendum and college expansion, trees were added across the campus. If a tree had to removed, it was located. For every tree that could not be saved it was replaced with 3 additional trees. Moraine achieved arboretum status with the help of an intern from the college’s GIS program. This student was integral in the inventory of the canopy. During his tenure, he was able to inventory the interior property and only focused on trees. The goal is to work with the GIS program again to inventory the rest of the campus, including woody shrubs. Currently, 1,323 individual trees have been identified. Of them 76 are unique species and 65.5% of the species are native to the area.