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Video by Scott Sturkol

2022 Fort McCoy Arbor Day Celebration, Tree Planting, Part IV

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office

April 29, 2022 | 0:24

Here, at the beginning of the Fort McCoy (Wis.) 2022 Arbor Day tree planting and observance April 29, 2022, Garrison Commander Col. Michael Poss and children give a shout out to celebrate Arbor Day and Month of the Military Child. During the observance, Fort McCoy Garrison leadership and other installation personnel helped children from the post Child Development Center plant hundreds of trees. The post also received its 33rd Tree City USA award from the National Arbor Day Foundation during the celebration. According to history.com, the origins of Arbor Day dates back to the early 1870s in Nebraska City, Neb. A journalist by the name of Julius Sterling Morton moved to the state with his wife, Caroline, in 1854. The couple purchased 160 acres in Nebraska City and planted a wide variety of trees and shrubs in what was a primarily a flat stretch of desolate plain. Morton later became editor of the state’s first newspaper, Nebraska City News, which became a platform for Morton to spread his knowledge of trees and to stress their ecological importance within Nebraska. On Jan. 7, 1872, Morton proposed a day that would encourage all Nebraskans to plant trees in their community. An agriculture board agreed, and Arbor Day was born. The first Arbor Day was held April 10, 1872. (U.S. Army Video by Scott T. Sturkol, Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office)