In honor of National Arbor Day (tomorrow), Earth Month + because it’s supposed to be warming up this weekend – let’s talk about trees.
You may be a little bitter if allergies are getting the best of you. But, all sniffles aside, have you ever wondered just how vital the trees truly are??
So to re-leaf your curiosity, here are ten tree-mendous facts:
- Asheville has been a designated Tree City USA for the past 38 years. The Tree City USA program, established in 1976, is based on 2 rules: maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry and celebrating Arbor Day. More than 3,400 communities have committed to become a Tree City USA including 243 in N.C. like Boone, Raleigh, Black Mountain. (Even Bath, N.C. with 242 residents is a Tree City USA👏). Ohio has the most cities with 243, and Vermont the least with 6.
- There are about 144 different native species of trees in WNC alone, with a total of 221 in the state of N.C. This is more native tree species than in all of Europe.
- North Carolina’s state tree is the pine tree, which comes from our colonial production of tar, pitch, rosin and turpentine from our many pine forests. (Hence the “tar heel” nickname). Bonus: 8 types of pine tree are indigenous to N.C.
- UNC Asheville was recently recognized as a Tree Campus USA by creating a campus tree advisory committee, a campus tree plan, a campus tree program, a service learning project, and observing Arbor Day. DYK: UNCA houses over 127 different N.C. native tree species?. There are only 344 campuses across the U.S. with this title including 12 from N.C.
- In addition to tomorrow’s National Arbor Day, a state-wide Arbor Day is celebrated by each state. N.C.’s is on the first Friday following March 15. (Mark your calendar for March 22, 2019).
- Fun fact: An oak tree can support 534 butterfly/moth species. 🦋
- Evergreen trees found along the Blue Ridge Parkway include Virginia pine, white pine, hemlock, spruce + fir.🌲
- You’ve seen the incredible colors on along Blue Ridge Parkway in the fall, as they turn yellow, orange, brown + red. This list that tells you what color each tree’s leaves turn. (Book those mountain getaways now).
- Urban forests (basically all of Asheville) are beneficial because they absorb air pollution + emissions, reduce air pollutants, lower air temperatures + reduce global warming by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere. Read: Money really does grow on trees. 💸
- Asheville GreenWorks installed a native tree nursery so that specific native trees can grow + then be planted in public places throughout Asheville + Buncombe County. Their plan is to plant no less than 500 trees annually. Here’s how you can get involved.
When I was young my dad and I used to go on walks around the neighborhood. He’d always pick up a leaf or two, tell me what tree it came from, why it was important + would then let me keep the leaf. He totally turned me into a little environmental nut.
To this day I can still point out an oak, red maple, hickory + beech leaf. Thanks, Dad. Growing up in WNC has taught me the importance of the trees in our area + how lucky we are to have such a diverse number of species.
Bonus: You might think Arbor day was started in Colorado or California, known for their lush forests. Instead, it was started in the 1870’s by a young journalist turned politician in Nebraska who rallied the community together to plant more trees to keep dirt in place + create shade for farming.The more you know.
Happy Thursday,
