Celebrate Earth Day / Arbor Day on Friday, April 20th

Small Group of Volunteers Needed to Help Plant Tree Seedlings:

Help us celebrate Earth Day and Arbor Day on the Pullman campus of Washington State University. We are asking for volunteers to help us plant about 150 small ponderosa pine seedlings on a hillside on the edge of the WSU Arboretum.

This year, the WSU Arboretum & Wildlife Center will celebrate both Earth Day and Arbor Day on the same day, Friday, April 20th, on the WSU Pullman campus.  If you feel like giving something back to the Earth, or if you just want to plant a tree that may last for hundreds of years, then please join us over the noon hour this Friday. It’ll not only do the Earth good, but it'll be good for you too!

Our parking space is quite limited, so we hope that people who have the time will consider car pooling or walking or biking down Grimes Way to the arboretum field office located at 520 NE Airport Road (just past the WSU Bear Center) on the south side of Airport Road (download map pdf).

We will meet in the arboretum parking lot at noon this Friday, April 20th, where we will walk up a gravel road about 300 yards to a grass hillside where the tree planting will be held. If enough people show up, we anticipate that the planting will only take an hour or so because the trees are fairly small and easy to plant. In addition to the tree planting, arboretum staff will describe the work being completed in the arboretum this spring and summer.

We recommend that you wear normal outdoor clothing appropriate for the day’s weather, and shoes or boots that will allow you to dig with a small shovel. We will provide tools and gloves.

If anyone needs additional information, please send us an email. Thanks! Hope to see you there.




[Photo: WSU students planting trees in the arboretum during Earth Day / Arbor Day in 2011.]



[Photo: WSU graduate student, Erim Gomez, stands by ponderosa pine trees planted in the WSU Arboretum about 8 years ago.]



[Photo: Mature ponderosa pine tree. Source: Wikipedia.]

Note: Earth Day is officially celebrated on Sunday, April 22nd in 2012, while Arbor Day is typically celebrated on the last Friday in April in many places. However, different states may celebrate Arbor Day on slightly different days depending on their local tradition.  For example, in Washington State, the official state Arbor Day is celebrated on the second Wednesday in April.

Also, see: History of Earth Day