UNITED NATIONS WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY – OMAHA AREA EVENTS

Arbor Day Foundation Activities

April 22 to June 5

April 25, 2009 Arbor Day Recognition Awards and Banquet – Twenty national award winners from across the country were recognized for their conservation efforts in tree planting and care, Arbor Day celebrations, education, community projects and roadside beautification. The National Arbor Day Award winners were honored at a ceremony and banquet during Arbor Day weekend at Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City, Neb.

National Poster contest for fifth-grade students throughout the nation

The Arbor Day Foundation hosted the winner and family of the 18th annual Arbor Day National Poster Contest, which is sponsored by Toyota, on Arbor Day, April 24, 2009. This year’s educational materials focused on the theme, “Trees are Terrific…in Cities and Towns!” More than 1.5 million students in nearly 65,000 fifth-grade classrooms nationwide participated in the contest this year. The national winner, Geneva M. from Oklahoma, along with her parents and family were treated to an expense paid trip to Nebraska City, Neb., where they were the guests of honor at an awards ceremony honoring Geneva. Gathered with them were hundreds of nationally known tree advocates, government officials, corporate representatives, and environmental stewards from across the country ready to applaud the positive impact this artist is already making on the world – and the environment – at such a young age. Geneva’s art work was featured on a giant video board in New York City’s Times Square throughout Arbor Day.

Nebraska has 44 Nature Explore Outdoor Classrooms either completed or in the works throughout the state of Nebraska. Nature Explore Classrooms are a joint effort between the Arbor Day Foundation and the Dimensions Educational Research Foundation.

Last year, the Arbor Day Foundation planted and distributed nearly 11 million trees.

The Arbor Day Foundation is coordinating the planting of 500 trees at Tranquility Park, 122nd and Maple streets in Omaha, by the Boy Scouts in May and June 2009. The tree planting is funded and sponsored by The Bayer Foundation.

The Arbor Day Foundation and The Home Depot Foundation teamed up this spring for the fourth year in a row to plant trees in urban areas throughout the United States.

This year, the Foundations selected 13 schools, parks or neighborhoods to plant trees in the “Trees for Success” campaign. Trees were planted at the following cities:

Houston (82 trees on March 31)
Austin, Texas (50 trees on April 1)
Nashville, Tenn. (79 trees on April 2)
Portland, Ore. (86 trees on April 16)
Miami (100 trees on April 21)
Midwest City, Okla. (10 trees on May 1)
Lincoln, Neb. (47 trees on May 6)
Fairbanks, Alaska (50 trees on May 6)
Detroit, Mich. (50 trees on May 7)
Ogden, Utah (87 trees on May 7)
Minneapolis (84 trees on May 20)

In addition, “Trees for Success” tree-planting events will take place in Reading, Pa., and Phoenix in the fall of 2009.

The Arbor Day Foundation teamed up with Toshiba to plant 532 seedlings at the San Bernardino National Forest on May 9. This was part of Toshiba’s commitment to plant 80,000 trees in the San Bernardino in 2009.

Avivia and the Arbor Day Foundation will partner together to plant 200 trees in a West Des Moines, Iowa, park on June 1.

The Arbor Day Foundation took part in an Arbor Day tree planting event at the Nebraska State Capitol building in Lincoln on April 24.

The Arbor Day Foundation’s What Tree is That? tree identification guide are being offered in select Barnes & Noble book stores.

On Arbor Day, Martha Stewart gave away Arbor Day Foundation gift trees and the new What Tree is That? tree identification guides to her studio audience.

The Arbor Day Foundation participated in the Lincoln Earth Day outreach event at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.