Arbor Day was founded in Nebraska in 1872 when J. Sterling Morton, then President of the Agricultural Board, proposed the planting of trees to attract more people to the state. Today all 50 states plus other countries around the globe celebrate Arbor day.
We celebrate on the last Friday in April here in Illinois. Other states observe Arbor Day on different dates according to their best tree-planting times.
Many towns have community events and tree plantings. The Morton Arboretum has information on their webpage for the Suburban Chicago area.
I love trees. I wish my yard was large enough to have more of them. It’s not, so instead I continue to plant more shrubs and perennials. This year I am adding a Dogwood and Forsynthia.
We have 15 acres of woods starting about 20 ft. from our back door. We only own 2 acres of it. But I must say that right around hunting season, I already wish those 15 acres of trees were 15 acres of nothing but grass… because hunters usually don’t set-up their tree stands on blades of grass!
I hate hunting, can you tell? Gun shots absolutely un-nerve me. It’s like post traumatic stress disorder, ever since moving out here to the woods 16 years ago. *bleh* I love it except for that reason.
~Andrea
I would love to live bordering the woods. However, the sound of gunshots would be a bit unnerving for me too.
I agree that hunting for no legitimate reason (and I don’t include ‘sport’ as a reason) should be stopped. My Grandfather was a dairy farmer, and when I was 12, he taught me about guns. Not because he was a gun nut (he was a decorated Vet of WW1 & WW2 and deplored weapons unless absolutely necessary), but because we had guns (locked away to be sure), and he wanted to make sure that my growing curiosity didn’t get me or someone else injured or killed. He taught me to understand and respect them, and I did. He used to take me fishing, and I enjoyed it! Both the peace and tranquility, and I learned just how good fresh caught fish can taste.
He made me clean my own fish too! Anyway, at 16 he decided it was time to learn how to hunt. We went after rabbits, and I didn’t want to shoot a bunny at all! I’d had two as pets years before… I was really stressed. He took me to the local Ranger’s office, and they explained to me that the rabbits were getting to plague proportions and they were encouraging hunting to keep the population down. I still wasn’t convinced, until it was explained that a) Rabbits are not native to Aus. and have few natural predators, b) they were destroying the feeding grounds and habitats of many other, native, species including Kangaroos, Wallabies, Wombats, and grazing land for sheep and cattle. They took us out and we drove around and I saw for myself just how much damage they were causing, and how emaciated the ‘roos were looking. Even so, my Grandfather had a rule that you only hunt what you will eat (except for a legitimate cull). Some years later, the Gov was forced to cull hundreds of thousands of rabbits, unfortunately, they decided to poison them ( I guess there were far too many to hunt really) many thousands of native animals were dying from starvation, poisoned water, and disease. And now the rabbits are breeding like crazy again, and have myxomatosis and so are inedible and immune to the poison.
I became a hunter and was licensed for a time. I went of a few culls, not because I enjoy killing animals (I hate it) or I love guns (I don’t), but because I was always sad to see the destruction and the pain and suffering caused to other species. One of the culls was for ‘roos. They are a majestic and beautiful animal when healthy… These were starving and diseased and looked terribly pathetic. They bred to plague proportions because their natural enemy, the Dingo, had been almost made extinct, and another, the Tasmanian Tiger, was extinct. I was angry that it had to be done, because it was the ignorance and stupidity of Humans that caused the problem in the first place.
In the USA, many of your natural predators have been hunted to near extinction. That seriously upsets the fine balance nature created. Sadly, the only predator many fast breeding species have now, is man. I hope that it’s not too late to restore the balance, but fear it may be.
BTW, I also saw military service, and used many weapons. I don’t own a gun, and see no reason to. I despise people who own guns just because *it’s cool* or to hunt for fun or sport. If a person has a truly legitimate reason to own a gun, then fine. I have no problem with that.
Apologies for this long comment… I just feel that it’s important to really understand, and for me to explain, why it’s sometimes necessary to hunt. Perhaps if more humans understand, it will become unnecessary. I won’t hold my breath waiting for that. *shrug*