What is Arbor Day?
Arbor Day is a secular day of observance in which individuals & groups are encouraged to plant trees. Today, many countries observe such a holiday. Though usually observed in the spring, the date varies, depending on climate & suitable planting season.
The First Arbor Day
The Spanish village of Mondoñedo held the 1st documented arbor plantation festival in the world organized & promoted by its mayor in 1569. The place remains as Alameda de los Remedios & it is still planted with lime & horse-chestnut trees.
Located at the entrance to the city at the foot of the Remedios Sanctuary, it has the peculiarity of being one of the oldest in Spain, where the 1st Tree Festival in Spain was celebrated on February 4, 1569. There is a monolith that commemorates this unique celebration in one of its gardens. Today a humble granite marker & a bronze plate recall the event.
Alameda de los Remedios
Centuries later the small Spanish village of Villanueva de la Sierra held the 1st modern Arbor Day, an initiative launched in 1805 by the local priest with the enthusiastic support of the entire population.
Madrid Professor Miguel Herrero Uceda writes: "While Napoleon was ravaging Europe with his ambition, in this village in the Sierra de Gata lived a priest, don Juan Abern Samtrés, who...convinced of the importance of trees for health, hygiene, decoration, nature, environment & customs, decided to plant trees in a festive air. The festival began on Carnival Tuesday with the ringing of 2 bells of the church... After the Mass, & coated with church ornaments, don Juan, accompanied by other clergies, teachers & a large number of neighbors, planted the 1st tree, a poplar, in the place known as Valley of the Ejido. Tree planting continued by Arroyada & Fuente de la Mora. Afterwards, there was a feast, & ...dance. The party & plantations lasted 3 days. He drafted a manifesto in defence of the trees that was sent to surrounding towns to spread the love & respect for nature, & also he advised them to make tree plantations in their localities."
The 1st American Arbor Day originated in Nebraska by J. Sterling Morton. On April 10, 1872, an estimated one million trees were planted in Nebraska. Julius Sterling Morton (1832–1902) was a Nebraska newspaper editor & politician who served as President Grover Cleveland's secretary of agriculture. He founded the nation's Arbor Day in 1872. His son, Joy Morton, founder of the Morton Salt Company, also created the 1,700 acre Morton Arboretum outside of Chicago which now has over 4,000 different types of trees, shrubs, & other woody plants.
Dr. Birdsey Grant Northrop (1817-1898)
A decade later, Dr. Birdsey Grant Northrop (1817-1898) of Kent, Connecticut, was largely responsible for popularizing the idea across the globe. An avid proponent of trees in the community landscape, he brought attention to Arbor Day in the world community during a visit to Japan in 1883 where he delivered a village improvement speech, stressed the importance of trees and promoted Arbor Day to the Japanese. He also delivered his Arbor Day message to Europe, Canada, and Australia. Dr. Northrop, a theologian by degree from Yale and advocate for better education and public life, authored 70 works in 159 publications in 2 languages on education, the importance of forestry, rural improvement, and town planning.
In 1883, the American Forestry Association made Dr. Northrop the Chairman of the committee to campaign for Arbor Day nationwide.
Major Israel McCreight (1865-1958)
Beginning in 1906, Major Israel McCreight (1865-1958) of DuBois, Pennsylvania, argued that President Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation speeches were limited to businessmen in the lumber industry & recommended a campaign of youth education plus a national policy on conservation education. McCreight urged Roosevelt to make a public statement to school children about trees & the destruction of American forests.
Conservationist Gifford Pinchot, Chief of the United States Forest Service, embraced McCreight’s recommendations & asked the President to speak to the public school children of the United States about conservation. On April 15, 1907, Roosevelt issued an "Arbor Day Proclamation to the School Children of the United States" about the importance of trees & that forestry deserves to be taught in U.S. schools. Pinchot wrote McCreight, "we shall all be indebted to you for having made the suggestion."
School Children Planting Trees
President Theodore Roosevelt, delivered the "Arbor Day Proclamation to the School Children of the United States" on April 15, 1907. Here is an excerpt: "...A people without children would face a hopeless future; a country without trees is almost as helpless; forests which are so used that they can not renew themselves will soon vanish, & with them all their benefits....When you help to preserve our forests or plant new ones you are acting the part of good citizens. The value of forestry deserves, therefore, to be taught in the schools, which aim to make good citizens of you. If your Arbor Day exercises help you to realize what benefits each one of you receives from the forests, & how by your assistance these benefits may continue, they will serve a good end."
