On this date in 1908, newspapers published a proclamation by North Dakota Governor John Burk, establishing an annual Arbor Day celebration.
Governor Burk stated, “Our state should not be behind the times in this great movement. I recommend planting trees and shrubbery in schoolyards and public grounds, and that the only exercises held in public schools on that day be those relating to forestry. The influence of forests on air, soil, rainfall, and conservation of moisture, so the rising generation may understand its great benefit to agriculture in this agricultural state.”
The first Arbor Day began in 1872 in Nebraska. National Arbor Day is the last Friday in April. Each state sets its own date for optimal planting. In North Dakota, it’s the first Friday in May. The 2026 theme: “A Tree Today, A Forest Tomorrow.”
In 1890, the Jamestown paper reported that an official at the U.S. Land Office in Fargo had been examined by county insanity commissioners and taken to the state hospital in Jamestown. The article said he suffered from dementia, and that “Saturday night he was observed to act strangely, and Sunday his hallucination took the form that he wanted to benefit all North Dakota by planting large forests.”
He was a bit before his time. In 1906, the State School of Forestry was created at Bottineau. The benefits to agriculture became clear as farmers planted trees. Windbreaks, shelterbelts, and stream cover helped reduce blizzards, livestock loss, flooding, soil erosion, and runoff. Trees also provided habitat for pollinators, birds, and game species.
In 1931, the 636-acre Denbigh Experimental Forest was established to test which trees could survive the harsh climate and sandy soils of the upper Midwest.
That same year, elm trees were planted on Arbor Day at Wahpeton Indian School. One tree survived the years of elm disease. In the 2020s, a “tree-hugging ceremony” honored that elm, with the school’s drum group singing as students and staff gathered in a circle.
North Dakota has 53 Tree City USA communities. Certification includes an annual Arbor Day celebration, often with school lessons and tree planting.
Dakota Datebook by Lise Erdrich
Sources:
- The Golden Valley Chronicle, April 24, 1908, Page 12
- The Jamestown Weekly Alert, May 22, 1890, Page 1
- The Bottineau Courant, April 24, 1914, Page 1
- Arbor Day 2026. Bismarck, ND official website. https://www.bismarcknd.gov/161/Arbor-Day
