WILSONVILLE, Ore. – Oregon Community Trees (OCT) and the Oregon Department of Forestry have honored Wilsonville Community Development Director Chris Neamtzu for his many achievements related to building up the city’s green
infrastructure.

Neamtzu, who is retiring after 30 years with Wilsonville’s Community Development Department, received OCT’s President’s Award at the City Council meeting on April 21, 2025.

OCT President Jim Gersbach noted that Neamtzu helped plan and construct nearly all of Wilsonville’s parks over the past three decades and played integral parts in the development of the city’s urban forestry program and tree preservation efforts, including
obtaining decades of Tree City USA awards for the City. Neamtzu also assisted wih developing the city’s first tree code in 1998, as well as a comprehensive natural resources management program, adopted in 2001. It remains in place today and continues to balance the needs of citizens while protecting important natural resources citywide.

He also had a major hand in the redevelopment of the Dammasch State Hospital into the award-winning, master-planned community of Villebois. There, preservation of trees, parks and ppen spaces created a leafy neighborhood with immediate access to nature.

Neamtzu served on theOregon Community Trees Board of Directors for 10-years and is also a former President, where he served in a statewide capacity to promote awareness of
urban forestry.