Arbor Day volunteers plant trees at the fair

Sugar maple
Arbor Day, which is observed on the last Friday each April, is meant to encourage people to plant trees.
Photo by Dave Hanson, University of Minnesota

"Of all the wonders of nature, a tree in summer is perhaps the most remarkable; with the possible exception of a moose singing 'Embraceable You' in spats."

That's filmmaker Woody Allen's tribute to trees, and an appropriate quote for Arbor Day, which is typically the last Friday in April each year.

Arbor Day is a celebration of trees that dates back to the 1870s. The first event took place in what was then a virtually treeless Nebraska, to encourage the planting of trees.

One of the Arbor Day events in the Twin Cities Friday took place at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, kicking off an effort to reforest the grounds with disease-resistant elm trees. Since 2002, the fairgrounds has lost more than half its elm trees.

MPR's Greta Cunningham talked with Ken Holman, urban forestry coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, about the tree-planting event.

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