ÐÔÊӽ紫ý students, faculty plan Feb. 21 Arbor Day observance
Contact: Heath Fisackerly
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi ÐÔÊӽ紫ý will celebrate Arbor Day with a Feb. 21 planting ceremony and program focused on the many benefits trees provide.
Open to all, the annual observance has been coordinated since 2012 by the university’s Tree Campus USA Advisory Committee.
This year’s event begins at 10:30 a.m. just east of the Mississippi Horse Park; specifically, near the southernmost bridge on Hail ÐÔÊӽ紫ý Boulevard and close to the Poor House Road intersection.
Following brief presentations by university administrators, four species native to the Magnolia ÐÔÊӽ紫ý will be planted by students in the ÐÔÊӽ紫ý student chapter of the Society of American Foresters, along with Waldorf scholarship recipients.
The first documented arbor-related celebration took place in the late 1500s in Spain. The first American Arbor Day was held in 1872 in Nebraska City, Nebraska. In Mississippi, the holiday is celebrated in February, the best time for tree planting in the Magnolia ÐÔÊӽ紫ý.
As a campus with more than 10,000 trees on 1,500 acres, ÐÔÊӽ紫ý has been recognized as a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation for the last five consecutive years.
Marc Measells, forestry department extension associate, is among coordinators of the 2018 ÐÔÊӽ紫ý program. For additional information, contact him at 662-325-3550 or mkm2@msstate.edu.
ÐÔÊӽ紫ý is Mississippi’s leading university available online at .