Tree Giveaway

The Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC) is urging all Alabamians to join in this year’s Arbor Week celebration! The Baldwin County AFC will be holding a tree seedling give-away on Feb. 4th & 5th. The trees will be given out at the Baldwin County office located at 32760 State Highway 59 in Loxley AL, starting at 8 a.m. till 5 p.m. on the 4th and continuing until all the seedlings are gone on the 5th.

According to the agency, over 200,000 seedlings were grown last year at Hopper Nursery in Hanceville. “Planting trees is a great way to improve our communities and make them greener. These seedlings are intended to benefit the citizens of Alabama so that they can plant trees at their home and other properties,” said Linda Casey, State Forester. “We hope that all families across the state will take part in this celebration and share the joy of planting trees,” Casey added.

Although Arbor Day is observed in all 50 states and throughout the world today, it actually finds its roots in Nebraska. The idea was conceived and the name “Arbor Day” proposed by J. Sterling Morton in 1872, then a member of the State Board of Agriculture and later U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. The idea caught on and over one million trees were planted that first year. Other states followed suit and, in 1887, Alabama Governor Thomas Seay signed the state’s first Arbor Day Proclamation. The tradition of a governor’s proclamation continued in Alabama until 1975 when the Birmingham Beautification Board, the State Garden Club, the AFC, and the State Board of Education collaborated with the State Legislature to pass a legislative act designating the last full week in February as “Arbor Week.”

The mission of the Alabama Forestry Commission is to protect and sustain Alabama’s forest resources using professionally applied stewardship principals and education, ensuring that the state’s forests contribute to abundant timber and wildlife, clean air and water, and a healthy economy. To learn more about the AFC, visit www.forestry.alabama.gov.