"Vancouver...A Healthy Community Rooted in Trees" is the theme of Vancouver's 20th Arbor Day celebration, highlighting the benefits of urban trees with the present and future. Trees improve air quality by producing oxygen and absorbing airborne pollutants such as ground-level ozone and fine particulates (e.g., dust, ash, and soot). Trees encourage increased outdoor recreation by providing shade and creating a more pleasant environment. Trees promote mental health by reducing stress and counteracting the effects of chronic mental fatigue. The health of our community really does depend on the health of our urban forest canopy!

Arbor Day is not like other holidays.
Each of those reposes on the past, while Arbor Day proposes for the future.
-- J. Sterling Morton

2009 Arbor Month events:

City of Vancouver Arbor Day Celebration
Date: Wednesday, April 8
Hours: 11:00 a.m. - noon
Location: 800 Officers Row
Cost: Free
Details: Featured speakers will include: Mayor Royce Pollard, City of Vancouver; Anne Friesz, Vancouver Urban Forestry Commissioner; Elson Strahan, Vancouver National Historic Reserve Trust CEO; Cindy Rimer, Director/ VP Sales and Marketing of Biokleen; Bob Cromwell, National Park Service Archaeologist;
Sponsors: Biokleen and Clark Public Utilities
For info: Call (360) 619-1108

Arbor Month Proclamation
Date: Monday, April 6
Hours: 7:00 p.m.
Location: City Hall (210 E 13th St)
Cost: Free
For info: Call (360) 619-1108

Arbor Day Celebration
"Vancouver...A Healthy Community Rooted in Trees"
Date: Wednesday, April 8
Hours: 11:00 a.m. to noon
Location: 800 Officers Row
Cost: Free
For info: Call (360) 619-1108

Second Saturday: Frogs, Newts, Snakes...oh my!
Date: Saturday, April 11
Hours: 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Location: Water Resource Education Center
(4600 SE Columbia Way)
Cost: Free
For info: Visit the Water Center website
or call (360) 487-7111.

TreeTalk Workshop
Proper Pruning and Tree Awareness
Date: Saturday, April 11
Hours: 9:30 a.m. to noon
Location: Marshall Community Center
1009 E McLoughlin Blvd Cost: Free
For info: Call (360) 619-1108

Marshall Center Earth Day Celebration
Date: Saturday, April 18
Hours: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Location:Marshall Community Center
1009 E McLoughlin Blvd
Cost: Free
For info: Visit the City of Vancouver website
or call (360) 487-7096.
Tree Talk Workshops
Noon: Earth Day Tree Planting Demonstration
3:30 p.m.: Insects and Diseases in Common Landscape Plants

CPU Home & Garden Idea Fair
Date: April 24 - 26
Hours: 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Location: Clark County Fairgrounds
Cost: $5.00 parking / Free admission, suggested
canned food donation
For info: Visit the Clark Public Utilities website.

TreeTalk Workshop
Earth Day Tree Planting Demonstration
Date: Saturday, April 25
Hours: noon
Location: Clearmeadows Park, 18100 Southeast 23rd Street
Cost: Free
For info: Call (360) 619-1108

Arbor Day is a nationally-celebrated observance that encourages tree planting and tree care. Founded by J. Sterling Morton, National Arbor Day is celebrated each year on the last Friday in April. Today, all 50 states and many Canadian provinces celebrate this holiday every spring, although the actual date of Arbor Day varies from state-to-state due to differences in climate.

The first Arbor Day was celebrated in the state of Nebraska in 1872, in response to a state proclamation urging settlers and homesteaders in that prairie state to plant trees that would provide shade, shelter, fruit, fuel, and beauty for residents of the largely treeless plains. On that first Arbor Day, more than one million trees were planted in Nebraska's communities and on its farms. The Arbor Day idea was promoted by J. Sterling Morton, editor of the Nebraska City News, who later helped the idea spread to neighboring states and eventually to all of the United States and many other nations.

For more information about Arbor Day visit the National Arbor Day Foundation website.