About Arbor Day
Arbor Day is America’s National Tree
Holiday, founded by J. Sterling Morton in Nebraska
in 1872. This is the day we set aside to plant
trees, educate people about the importance of trees,
and honor the role trees play in our daily
lives.
For the first Arbor Day, prizes were offered
to counties and individuals for properly planting the
largest number of trees on that day. It is said
that more than a million trees were planted the first
year, while within sixteen years over 350,000,000 trees
and vines were planted in the State.
This custom, so beautiful and useful, spread
rapidly, and now is recognized by the statutes of many
of the States. Arbor Day has become
a designated day upon which people and especially
school children plant trees and shrubs along the
highways and other suitable places.
In 1970, President Richard Nixon proclaimed the last
Friday in April as National Arbor Day. All 50 states
celebrate Arbor Day. The celebration dates may vary in
each state due to the local climate.
Arbor Day Activities |
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