In the 1840s, the midwestern state of Nebraska was a territory
within a wide prairie. When pioneers moved out to settle there,
they found few trees to build houses or to burn for fuel. There
was no shade from the sun or wind, and crops did not grow well in
the dry earth.
J. Sterling Morton was one of those pioneers who moved to the
treeless Nebraska territory. He and his wife planted trees
immediately after moving from their home town of Detroit,
Michigan. Morton was a journalist, and later the editor, for
Nebraska's first newspaper. In his writings he advocated
planting trees to help life on this vast barren plain.
He became the secretary of the Nebraska Territory. At a
meeting of the State Board of Agriculture in January 1872, Morton
proposed that citizens of the new state of Nebraska set aside
April 10 as a day to plant trees. He suggested offering prizes as
incentives for communities and organisation that planted the most
trees properly. Everyone welcomed the idea enthusiastically.
Nebraskans planted about one million trees on that first Arbor
Day. Today a visitor to Nebraska would never guess that it was
once a dusty prairie.
In 1882, Nebraska declared its own Arbor Day as a legal
holiday and the date was changed to Morton's birthday, April 22.
Today almost every state celebrates an Arbor day but because the
best tree-planting season changes from region to
region, some states observe the day on different dates.
Hawaiians, for example, plant Arbor Day trees on the first Friday
in November!
| "Arbor Day which has already transplanted
itself to every state in the American Union and has even
been adopted in foreign lands... is not like other
holidays. Each of those reposes on the past, while Arbor
Day proposes for the future." -J.
Sterling Morton
|
Earth Day
On April 22, 1970, Arbor Day activities were modified to
emphasize the critical importance of the environment and to make
the American public aware of the destruction of the earth's
natural preserves. This day, Earth Day, was observed by twenty
million Americans, most of them students. The sponsors of Earth
Day hoped to start an environmental movement that would alter
industrial practices and human consumption.
Twenty years later in 1990, Earth Day was observed once again.
On the Mall, in the center of Washington, D.C., people gathered
for Earthfest. At this second observance of Earth Day,
participants and planners were not only college students but
ordinary Americans of all ages and from all walks of life.
Musicians performed songs about nature. Celebrities spoke about
what Americans can do to recycle. Federal agencies offered
expositions showing their efforts in stopping wasteful practices
polluting the environment. Conservation groups taught the crowds
about rain forests, and how their destruction could mean the
destruction of large parts of the world. Although Earth Day is
not a yearly federal holiday it has helped Americans realize
that they can and should do something to protect the environment.
