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Editorial
Tree-planting tradition continues with Arbor Day
Friday, April 26, 2013
Nebraskans are familiar with the old photographs, by Solomon Butcher, of the sod houses in Custer County.
The homesteaders usually are seated in the front yard of their homes, where there was plenty of light for the wet glass plate photography of the time, with their prized possessions, such as a piano, an organ -- even one famous photograph of a cow standing on the roof of their dugout home.
The photos, taken before the turn of the last century, most often included a sod house in the background, rough earthen walls, dark interiors, sod roofs on many, or wooden for the more fortunate.
The homes were well suited for their purpose, warm and snug in the winter, cool in the summer, built of easily available material -- natural strips of sod bound together by eons of buffalo grass roots.
But it was a snapshot in time; settlers replaced the old "soddies" with conventional wood structures as soon as lumber and the money to buy it was available.
And they didn't stop there. Early settlers found themselves homesick for the forests of Europe and the eastern United States.
They began doing something about it, and Nebraska invented Arbor Day in 1872.
As in examples covered elsewhere in the paper, planting a tree is a great way to commemorate a special event or honor the memory of a loved one.
A healthy tree is a gift to the future, beautifying the landscape, improving the environment, providing shelter from the wind and reducing energy costs and
attracting wildlife.
The City of McCook and many other Nebraska communities are getting in the act, implementing programs to earn the Tree City USA designation. If you plant a tree that meets certain guidelines, the city will reimburse you for the expense. Learn more about it at http://cityofmccook.com
You can also visit http://retreenebraska.unl.edu to record your planting toward ReTree Nebraska's goal of planting 1 million trees in Nebraska communities by 2017.
At the very least, get outdoors during the springtime (finally!) weather and enjoy beautiful flowering trees like redbud, magnolia, service berry and fruit
trees.