What is Arbor Day?
Arbor Day is a nationally-celebrated observance that encourages tree planting and care. Arbor Day History In 1872, J. Sterling Morton, journalist and editor of Nebraska’s first newspaper, proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees. Nebraska was a treeless plain, and it was the lack of trees that led to the founding of Arbor Day. Arbor Day was first observed on April 10, 1872 with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska. It wasn’t until 1885 that Arbor Day was named a legal holiday in Nebraska and April 22, Morton’s birthday, was selected as the date for Nebraska’s permanent observance. Arbor Day is now observed throughout the nation and the world. National Arbor Day is the last Friday in April, but many states observe Arbor Day on different dates according to their best tree-planting times. North Carolina observes Arbor Day the first Friday following March 15th. Wake Forest’s Arbor Day Celebration The Town of Wa
It is a nationally celebrated observance encouraging tree planting and care started in Nebraska in 1872 and is usually observed the last Friday in April. J. Sterling Morton of Detroit was an early pioneer who moved into the Nebraska Territory in 1854. A nature lover, he and his wife planted many trees, shrubs and flowers at their new home. As a journalist, Morton spread his enthusiasm for trees for their value as windbreaks, aid to soil retention, fuel, building materials and shade. He proposed a tree-planting holiday and on April 10, 1872, the first Arbor Day, an estimated 1 million trees were planted in Nebraska. Source: www.arborday.
