CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The City of Cheyenne is ready to make a local arboretum a statewide attraction.
During its meeting today, the City Council approved a resolution expressing its support to the Wyoming State Legislature to make the High Plains Arboretum a state historic site.
The arboretum is a 62-acre site located west of F.E. Warren Air Force Base on the former USDA Cheyenne Horticultural Field Station. It is a part of the 2,749-acre arboretum originally created in 1928 by the USDA to test trees, shrubs and flowers for survival on the High Plains. Roughly 2,200 acres are owned by the City of Cheyenne, but they are under a 200-year lease to the department that was signed in 1930.
In 2000, the Friends of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens nonprofit created the Friends of the High Plains Arboretum subcommittee. In 2008, the committee came to an agreement with the USDA to allow the 62 acres to be taken off of the lease. The acres are now under full control of the city and are maintained by the Cheyenne Urban Forestry Division.
The cost of maintaining the arboretum and historic ground buildings, however, are a significant financial challenge for the city, the resolution states. In May, Mayor Patrick Collins formally requested that the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources review the arboretum as a potential historic site through its Site Criteria Process.
During an Aug. 25 City Council work session, department staff requested formal consent from the council, including a resolution expressing support, in order to move forward with the process.
The resolution, in full, can be viewed below.
