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Wright-Patterson AFB named 'Tree City USA'

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Holly Layer
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Wright-Patterson has been named "Tree City USA" by the National Arbor Day Foundation this year for the ninth time.

Susan Dilworth, environmental specialist and natural resources technician, submitted the package this year and received the award for the base April 21 at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.

While the award is designed for local municipalities, military bases are welcome to submit packages. A package must contain a documented Arbor Day observance with a photo, an Arbor Day proclamation signed by the commander, a description of the base's forestry program and a work plan for throughout the year.

Last year, Ms. Dilworth planted two tulip trees in honor of Arbor Day, one behind Kittyhawk Chapel and another near Bass Lake.

This year she will plant another tree during the first week of May, after coordinating with the 88th Air Base Wing Civil Engineer Directorate.

As part of the forestry program here on base, 182 trees were planted last year, and civil engineering must maintain the trees year-round and deal with insect problems.

The country's first Arbor Day celebration took place on April 10, 1872, born of an idea of J. Sterling Morton's, a nature-lover from Detroit who moved to the Nebraska Territory in the mid-1850s. It is estimated that more than 1 million trees were planted on that first Arbor Day, a celebration that has spread throughout the world. A Nebraska newspaper editor, Mr. Morton used his influence to encourage everyone he could to plant trees for agricultural and aesthetic reasons.

In 1885, Mr. Morton's birthday, April 22, was selected to be the permanent celebration of Arbor Day. While the tree-planting holiday is most commonly celebrated on the last Friday in April, some areas of the country, like the extreme South and North, choose to recognize it during other parts of the year due to varying planting seasons.