In the 1840s, the midwestern state of Nebraska was a territory within a wide prairie. When pioneers moved out to settle there, they found few trees to build houses or to burn for fuel. There was no shade from the sun or wind, and crops did not grow well in the dry earth.

J. Sterling Morton was one of those pioneers who moved to the treeless Nebraska territory. He and his wife planted trees immediately after moving from their home town of Detroit, Michigan. Morton was a journalist, and later the editor, for Nebraska's first newspaper, n his writings, he advocated planting trees to help life on this vast barren plain.

He became the secretary of the Nebraska Territory. At a meeting of the State Board of Agriculture in January 1872, Morton proposed that citizens of the new state of Nebraska set aside April 10 as a day to plant trees. He suggested offering prizes as incentives for communities and organizations that planted the most trees properly. Everyone welcomed the idea enthusiastically. Nebraskans planted about one million trees on that first Arbor Day. Today a visitor to Nebraska would never guess that it was once a dusty prairie.

In 1882, Nebraska declared its own Arbor Day as a legal holiday, and the date was changed to Morton's birthday, April 22. Because the best tree-planting season changes from region to region, other states observe the day on different dates. Hawaiians, for example, plant Arbor Day trees on the first Friday in November!

"Arbor Day which has already transplanted itself to every state in the American Union and has even been adopted in foreign lands... is not like other holidays. Each of those reposes on the past, while Arbor Day proposes for the future."

 J. Sterling Morton

Earth

On April 22, 1970, Arbor Day activities were modified to emphasize the critical importance of the environment and to make the American public aware of the destruction of the earth's natural preserves. This day, Earth Day, was observed by twenty million Americans, most of them students. The sponsors of Earth Day hoped to start an environmental movement that would alter industrial practices and human consumption.

Twenty years later in 1990, Earth Day was observed once again. On the Mall, in the center of Washington, D.C., people gathered for Earthfest. At this second observance of Earth Day, participants and planners were not only college students but ordinary Americans of all ages and from all walks of life. Musicians performed songs about nature. Celebrities spoke about what Americans can do to recycle. Federal agencies offered expositions showing their efforts in stopping wasteful practices polluting the environment. Conservation groups taught the crowds about rain forests, and how their destruction could mean the destruction of large parts of the world. Although Earth Day is not a yearly national holiday, it has helped American realize that they can and should do something to protect the environment.