Lower Elkhorn NRD promotes Arbor Day with tree sales

This year marks the 150th Anniversary of Arbor Day and will be celebrated Friday, April 29th.  The Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District (LENRD) will commemorate this special day with “last chance tree sales” at their Tree Distribution Center at the Maskenthine Lake Recreation Area, north of Stanton.  The center will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. on Arbor Day, and seedlings can be purchased in bundles of 25 for $25.  Quantities and species are limited.  From Norfolk, the lake is located 10 miles east on highway 275 and then 2 miles south on Ridge Road.  Signs will direct you to the pick-up location.

LENRD Natural Resources Technician, Todd Stewart, said, “There are so many benefits that trees provide for us, from reducing soil erosion, to adding value to your property, to filtering the air.  Planting trees is a gift for future generations.  Our parents and grandparents did it for us, and we should return the favor for our kids and grandkids.”

Contact Stewart at the LENRD office, 402-371-7313, if you have questions about your trees or if you need further assistance.

History of Arbor Day

Nestled in the hills of Nebraska City, is the legendary Arbor Lodge State Historical Park, the original home of the J. Sterling Morton family.  It was there in 1872, that Morton’s idea began – for a special day set aside to encourage people everywhere to plant trees that were so desperately needed across the state.  Morton was a newspaper editor and politician who was very passionate about trees and agriculture.  His dream became known as Arbor Day, and on that very first celebration, nearly one million trees were planted across Nebraska.  Nebraska, the birth state of Arbor Day, celebrates Arbor Day on the last Friday of April each year.