Georgia Southern University Celebrates Arbor Day

February 25, 2014

Georgia Southern University’s Center for Sustainability and Physical Plant departments celebrated Arbor Day, an awareness event created to inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees, on Friday, Feb. 21.

Deans, members of faculty and staff and students planted 50 to 100 longleaf and slash pine trees ranging from three to eight feet tall on the new trail behind the Lady Eagle Softball Stadium during the event.

Every year on the third Friday in February, Arbor Day is recognized in Georgia.

“Arbor Day is important, especially in Georgia because our economy is largely based on the forestry industry,” said Subhrajit Saha, Ph.D.,  professor of biology and Fellow of the Center for Sustainability. “Our students need to know the importance of trees, and Arbor Day helps them to have love and affection for them. If they plant the trees, they will have a connection to them, and that connection helps us to maintain forestry and sustain the natural resources of Georgia.”

Started by Nebraskan pioneer J. Sterling Morton, Arbor Day began in 1872. It was later recognized as a legal holiday in schools and became a nationwide tradition 1882. Today, state Arbor Days are scheduled to coincide with the best tree planting weather – from January and February in the South and to May in the far North.