Celebrate Arbor Day, April 30

Indiana DNR Release:

A day for putting down roots approaches. Tree roots, that is. It’s Arbor Day, celebrated this year on April 30 in Indiana.

In recognition of Arbor Day, people in all 50 states will plant trees on a specific day for the 139th consecutive year. Because of climate differences, different states choose different dates.

For details on Indiana State Museum’s Arbor Day program in Indianapolis, see http://indianamuseum.org/educators/festivals/arbo.html.

Then-president Theodore Roosevelt once said, “A people without children would face a hopeless future; a country without trees is almost as hopeless.” With the world population’s ever-growing demand for wood and fiber, the need for trees nearly 103 years later has only increased.

Originally conceived by J. Sterling Morton in 1872, the Arbor Day concept is intended to make people aware of the many benefits received from trees. Morton eventually served as President Grover Cleveland’s secretary of agriculture.

Different places choose to celebrate on different days. This annual event is also observed in many European countries.

Indiana’s Arbor Day is now celebrated on the last Friday of April but that was not always so. The first Arbor Day in Indiana was observed on April 11, 1884. The date of Arbor Day changed for several years at the discretion of the governor, until the current system was established in 1991 to correspond with the official date of National Arbor Day.

For more information about Indiana’s forests and the importance of trees, see www.IN.gov/dnr/forestry, write the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, 402 W. Washington, Rm. W296, Indianapolis, IN 46204; or call (317) 232-4105.