Promoting Arbor Day, one seed at a time
<p>LeAnn Abell, left, and Jordan Finch, 17, bag tree seedlings Monday to be distributed to Kootenai County’s fourth graders to celebrate Arbor Day.</p>
<p>Danny Adamson, 19, bags tree seedlings with Joan Moore, another volunteer. Adamson is one of the students that came with Venture High School to volunteer. The seedlings will be given to Kootenai County’s fourth graders in celebration of Arbor Day.</p>
<p>Five different species of tree seedlings were bagged Monday to be distributed to Kootenai County’s fourth graders. The Arbor Day Program has bagged over 69,000 seedlings in the 30 years of its operation.</p>
Volunteers from the Bureau of Land Management, Venture High School and all around Kootenai County hovered over long tables. Some put tree seedlings in bags and others labeled the trees. Partway through the morning, everyone stopped for a coffee and doughnut break, then it was back to work.
Jon Schwandt, co-chair of the Kootenai County Arbor Day Committee, and volunteers bagged 2,400 seedlings Monday, to be distributed to Kootenai County’s fourth-graders. This is the 30th year Schwandt has done this. This year they bagged more than 69,000 trees total.
“It is a great way to increase awareness of trees and increase the number of trees we have in the cities and county,” Schwandt said.
Danny Adamson, 19, was part of the volunteer student group from Venture High School. He went to Atlas Elementary School and remembers getting his Arbor Day tree when he was in fourth grade.
“I went home, and my mom was skeptical at first, but once I told her she was like ‘Oh, let’s go plant it,’” Adamson said. “We planted it in my front yard. Now it’s huge!”
He said his two younger siblings also got trees when they were in fourth grade, but their trees died. Adamson said he was excited to volunteer for the tree bagging this year because he’s been on the other side of it.
The Arbor Day Program gives seedling trees and instructions on how to plant them to all fourth-grade students attending schools in Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene, Rathdrum, Hayden Lake, Athol and Spirit Lake.
There are five species of trees being given out this year: two kinds of flowering crab trees, dogwood trees, black cherry trees and western white pine trees.
Each seedling is dipped in a substance that can absorb about 10 times its weight in water. This keeps the roots of the trees wet until it can be planted. If the roots dry out, the tree will have very slim chances of surviving.
After being dipped, the seedlings are put into plastic bags then labeled. Volunteers then organized the seedlings into boxes that will go to the different fourth-grade classes across the county. Each tree comes with an instructional pamphlet as well as a sticker.
The Arbor Day Program holds an art contest for the middle schools and high schools. Along with a cash prize, the winner gets their art on the Arbor Day stickers and T-shirts.
This year’s winner was Marissa Koski, a junior from Charter Academy. Her piece depicts a tree seedling with the message “Change the world one seed at a time.”
Schwandt said there were 200 art submissions this year. He and some volunteers narrowed it to six finalists. The fourth graders from Ramsey Elementary School voted on the winner.
Arbor Day is Friday, but it will be celebrated Saturday at McEuen Park in downtown Coeur d’Alene with a ceremonial tree planting, a raffle and a free hot dog lunch. There will also be hikes on Tubbs Hill guided by members of the Native Plant Society and the artwork from the Arbor Day art competition will be on display.
Joan Moore owns 10 acres of forested land and said she loves helping with Arbor Day.
“Arbor Day is very important considering most of our forests are being demolished and it teaches our youth about nature,” she said as she stood in the assembly line, labeling seedlings. “Trees make the world go round.”