Fort McCoy held its 2023 Arbor Day celebration April 28 with dozens of community members that included adults and children in attendance who in turn planted more than 500 trees in a plot near building 102 on the cantonment area at the installation.

During the observance, Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Stephen Messenger and other installation personnel and children from the post Child Development Center planted the hundreds of tree seedlings in rows that were pre-dug by Directorate of Public Works (DPW) staff.

“Today we are going to plant some red pine that are going to get really big over the course of time,” said Forester Charles Mentzel with the Forestry Office of the DPW Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch. “We’re going to eventually fill in this field behind us, but we’re just going to do a portion of it today.”

Messenger addressed everyone, but he specifically addressed the children in attendance to the event.

“Happy Arbor Day everybody,” Messenger said. He asked the children many questions about trees. One child said she liked apple trees. Another said she liked trees because her dad liked them. Another child said they liked trees because they give shade and grow tall. And there was much more.

And at the end, they all said in unison, “I declare today Arbor Day!”

Mentzel reviewed Arbor Day’s origins and discussed the post earning another Tree City USA award from the National Arbor Day Foundation.

“Fort McVoy has been named a Tree City USA once again,” Mentzel said. “This is our 34th year in a row being a Tree City, and we have certain requirements to fulfill that. Basically, it means that we take care of our trees. And today we’re going to celebrate by planting some beautiful trees. It’s also going to rain tomorrow and it will give the trees a drink, and they won’t be thirsty.”

According to history.com, the origins of Arbor Day dates back to the early 1870s in Nebraska City, Neb. A journalist by the name of Julius Sterling Morton moved to the state with his wife, Caroline, in 1854. The couple purchased 160 acres in Nebraska City and planted a wide variety of trees and shrubs in what was a primarily a flat stretch of desolate plain.

Morton later became editor of the state’s first newspaper, Nebraska City News, which became a platform for Morton to spread his knowledge of trees and to stress their ecological importance within Nebraska.

On Jan. 7, 1872, Morton proposed a day that would encourage all Nebraskans to plant trees in their community. An agriculture board agreed, and Arbor Day was born. The first Arbor Day was held April 10, 1872.

The tradition spread quickly. Within 20 years, Arbor Day had reached a large swath of the nation and was celebrated in every state except for Delaware. It wasn’t until 1970, however, that Arbor Day became recognized nationwide, thanks to President Richard Nixon.

This move was in line with other environmentally friendly actions taken by Nixon in the 1970s, including the passing of the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Protection Act, and more.

Mentzel said the Fort McCoy Arbor Day event is always coordinated by the installation Forestry program.

Working together, it took the attendees less than an hour to get all the trees planted. Matter of fact, Messenger and one youthful helper planted an entire row nearly all on their own with dozens of trees.

“Everyone did a great job,” Messenger said as the effort was wrapping up.

The Arbor Day ceremony tree planting was just a small portion of the number of trees being planted around post in April in May. More than 10,000 trees were planted on both the cantonment area and in training areas.

According to the National Arbor Day Foundation at https://www.arborday.org/trees/index-benefits.cfm, trees have many benefits, and they’re worthy of celebration.

“Healthy forests, whether in natural or urban spaces, are key to the health of some of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world,” the foundation’s website states. “Trees support wildlife and aquatic life by providing habitat and helping to keep waterways healthy. This ensures that ecosystem balance can be maintained, and biodiversity can thrive. Forests rich in biodiversity benefit the human population, too. Trees and other forest life work together to ensure a clean source of drinking water, buffer against extreme weather, provide medicines, offer outdoor recreation, and enrich human culture.”

Fort McCoy’s motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.” Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.

The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on the Defense Visual Information Distribution System at https://www.dvidshub.net/fmpao, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.” Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base.