Arbor Day Foundation in Better Homes and Gardens

Be sure to check out the August 2009 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. The issue includes a story about how shade trees can lower energy bills and features the advice from the Arbor Day Foundation and Scott Maco, a research urban forester with Davey Tree Institute.

Properly placed trees, once they mature, can reduce air-conditioning needs by as much as 30 percent, and heating needs by as much as 20 percent.

For more facts and tips, be sure and grab a copy of the magazine. The article is titled, Nature’s AC.

Our Forests Need Your Help

Pretty soon, wild fire season will be upon us. Many Americans in several states will likely deal with devastating fires this summer, and it will last into the fall months.

Wild fire is inevitable. It’s a natural phenomenon that clears out underbrush, restores nutrients to the soil and in some cases allows trees to regenerate naturally.

But fire is also destroying majestic trees as never before.

In recent years, thanks in part to an extended period of drought conditions and warmer temperatures, the United States has been hit with record wild fires.  According to a Unified Statement from Five Former U.S. Forest Service Chiefs, the fire season is “beginning earlier, particularly in the West, lasting longer and increasing intensity.”

As a result, the Forest Service is spending more and more of its budget on fire suppression. The Forest Service has identified a 1 million-acre backlog that needs replanting.

Since 1990, the Arbor Day Foundation has worked with the Forest Service to plant trees in our national forests in areas where the Forest Service has deemed that natural regeneration will not take place.

Some Arbor Day trees planted in U.S. National Forests have been used as perimeter trees, surrounding a large tract of land in need of replanting. Over time, the area will fill in with trees naturally.

If you want to help plant trees and preserve these natural treasures, visit arborday.org.

You can also check out our most recent PSA on how our forests need your help at http://www.arborday.org/replanting/psa/.

Artisan Woods now at Arbor Day Farm’s Tree Adventure

Be sure and check out Artisan Woods, the new attraction at Arbor Day Farm’s Tree Adventure this summer.

Artisan Woods is an outdoor showcase of nature-inspired structures and art that are on display along the Tree House Trail. You’ll see trees and nature in an enjoyable, interactive way as you walk through a limb made of lathes from hardwood trees, see a sprout from a giant acorn, explore a human-sized bird’s nest and discover larger-than-life chairs made from cedar wood.

Artisan Woods is the first in a series of annual outdoor exhibits planned at the Tree Adventure. Works created for Artisan Woods will be on display through Oct. 31.

Don’t miss it!

‘Exploring Trees Inside and Out’ Traveling Exhibit Opens in Atlanta

Looking for a cool, family friendly activity to do in Georgia this summer? Then be sure to check out the Nature Explore Traveling Exhibit, “Exploring Trees Inside and Out,” at Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta.

The traveling exhibit, presented by Doubletree Hotels, the Arbor Day Foundation and Dimensions Educational Research Foundation, recently opened at Imagine It!, and will be at the museum through September 13.

“Explore Trees Inside and Out” encourages family members of all ages to explore the beauty of the great outdoors through the incredible wonders of trees. The 2,500-square-foot exhibit is designed to create a better understanding among children age 2 to 10 about the significant role trees play in the environment.

At the exhibit, children will be able to crawl through a log and experience it as a habitat for other living things, help a seed grow into a young oak inside a huge acorn, explore a tree trunk, smell scents from various trees, and hear the sounds of animals that live in trees.

The traveling exhibit will move to Boston in September in 2009, and will travel throughout the country through the end of 2010.

Milestone planting for Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium

The Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium recently planted an acre of second-generation hazelnuts at the Horning State Farm near Plattsmouth, Neb. The Arbor Day Foundation, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Rutgers University and Oregon State University are members of the consortium.

The planting was a significant milestone for the consortium in that it represents more than 10 years of research from each institution. The goal of the consortium is to create a world-leading research and breeding program to turn hazelnuts into a large commercial crop.

It’s the hope of the consortium to expand the growing region of hazelnuts to include much of the United States and parts of Canada. Right now, 99 percent of all hazelnuts grown in the U.S. are produced in the Wilmette Valley of Oregon. The Oregon crop represents between 3-5 percent of the world’s hazelnut crop.

Second generation hazelnuts are being planted in Nebraska and New Jersey to determine how different climates affect how the plant grows and produces nuts, and to test the hardiness of the hybrids.

There are many benefits to planting hazelnuts. They require less water and fossil energy to produce large amounts of crops, they are a perennial crop and are highly adaptable to poorer soil, potentially making it an ideal crop for marginal agriculture lands.

To learn more about the Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium, go to http://www.arborday.org/programs/hazelnuts/consortium/.