Although National Arbor Day will be observed on April 27th this year, many states throughout the country choose to hold their own Arbor Day observances on different days. For example, Missouri holds its Arbor Day observance on the first Friday in April each year, while Kansas’ Arbor Day is always the last Friday in April. Most states, according to the Arbor Day Foundation, choose a date that falls within the state’s best tree planting time, which is why the observances occur at various points.
Arbor Day founder J. Sterling Morton had one simple idea behind the observance – to set aside one day for tree planting. This year, the state of Missouri took that idea to heart with its Arbor Day observations last Friday. As announced on the Arbor Day Foundation Blog, the Arbor Day Foundation will be distributing trees to the residents of Joplin, Missouri on April 21st to help restore Joplin’s tree canopy, which was essentially wiped out after a devastating tornado passed through last year.
The Joplin Tree Recovery Program is a new part of the Arbor Day Foundation’s Trees for America program, which encompasses other initiatives that will take trees to the Gulf Coast areas hit by Hurricane Katrina and to replace more than 20 million trees in national forests that have been affected by disease and fire.
If you didn’t participate in Missouri’s official Arbor Day observance last Friday, you can still join in the national observance later this month. For ideas of ways to observe Arbor Day and get involved, visit the Arbor Day Foundation website.
Image from kzulo / sxc.hu