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Zoo celebrates Arbor Day this weekend

This Saturday, Feb. 19, Zoo Atlanta will celebrate one of earth’s most valuable resources, trees. The 2005 Arbor Day Celebration is part of a collaborative effort between TreesAtlanta and various Atlanta tourist attractions to help preserve trees.

Experience tree-climbing demonstrations, take in tree care information presented by the ArborGuard Tree Specialists at Elephant Elm Tree and learn horticulture tips from various tree professionals, DeKalb County Master Gardener and Zoo Atlanta Horticulture staff. Visitors will also have an opportunity to take a self-guided tour of the Zoo’s trees. Discover how to make pots from newspaper and how people benefit from trees.

Make sure to visit the Mobile Forestry Classroom, exhibited by the Georgia Forestry Commission, which features 12 computers with an interactive CD-ROM product that help illustrate how Georgia’s forests improve our quality of life. Other guests joining Zoo Atlanta’s Arbor Day celebration include Atlanta Audobon Society, Clean Air Campaign, Sustainable Forestry Initiative and Pollution Prevention Assistance Program.

The first Arbor Day was celebrated in the state of Nebraska in 1872, to urge settlers 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 1 million trees were planted in Nebraska's communities and on its farms. J. Sterling Morton, an editor from Nebraska, who later helped the idea spread to neighboring states and eventually the United States and other nations, promoted the idea for Arbor Day.  Today, Arbor Day celebrations are held in communities all over America. Georgia’s Arbor Day is celebrated on the third Friday in February.  National Arbor Day is celebrated each year on the last Friday in April.

Come celebrate this exciting day with Zoo Atlanta.  Don’t forget to take home a free tree seedling to enjoy year after year.