The City of Hobbs is a recipient of this inaugural year’s Centennial Roots program. Centennial Roots is an annual tree donation program sponsored by the independent oil and gas company Centennial Resource Development.

The Texas communities of Pecos and Midland are also beneficiaries of this year’s inaugural program.

All three communities are located within the Permian Basin, a prolific oil producing area in the United States, and Centennial has chosen to focus its tree planting program in this region. The company owns over 81,000 net mineral acres in the area.

According to City of Hobbs Director of Communications Meghan Mooney, the Centennial Roots program is an “annual tree donation program designed to provide utility and beautification to the communities that Centennial operates in, and calls home.”

Centennial hopes that the tree donation program will serve as a means of educating and bringing awareness to both youth and adults in the communities that receive trees.

Centennial is donating twenty trees to Hobbs. Five will be planted in Washington Park. Ten will be planted at Rockwind Community Links. The remaining five will be planted throughout the City of Hobbs’ park system at locations not yet announced.

An informal groundbreaking ceremony was held at Washington Park, on Friday, April 30th, Arbor Day. Teachers and students from Booker T. Washington Elementary School attended the event. Attendees received t-shirts with a Centennial Roots logo and were served lunch by Centennial employees.

Arbor Day is a holiday that celebrates nature with a particular emphasis encouraging people to plant trees. It is held each year on the last Friday of April. Often communities organize tree plantings on Arbor Day to help the public appreciate the impact trees have on our everyday lives. Aside from being a vital part of producing oxygen, trees also capture carbon from the atmosphere and store it in their wood, an important process for combatting global climate change.

Recently appointed Hobbs City Manager Manny Gomez said of the program, “We are always more than grateful when outside entities from the region reach out to partner with us and benefit the community. Public-private partnerships have transformed Hobbs and Lea County. Centennial Roots is another great opportunity for citizens to take pride in where they live and to help our youth create a better tomorrow.”

According to the press release distributed by the City of Hobbs, a representative from Centennial commented during the ground breaking ceremony, “Centennial is dedicated to making a positive impact on the communities in which we live and work, and we are excited to partner with the City of Hobbs for our inaugural Centennial Roots program. Hobbs is a terrific fit, as many of our employees live in the surrounding community. Additionally, we are delighted to engage with the local youth community for this fun event, and we hope it is something they remember for years to come as their community continues to grow and prosper alongside the newly planted trees.”