The holiday's name comes from the Latin word arbor, which means tree. In 1594, the mayor of the Spanish village of Mondoñedo organized a tree-planting festival—the first festival of its kind. Another Spanish village, Villanueva de la Sierra, held the first Arbor Day in 1805. In America, Arbor Day got its start in 1872. Julius Sterling Morton, a journalist, and his wife, Caroline, moved to Nebraska City, Nebraska, in 1854, the year Nebraska became a territory. They bought 160 acres of land, which was mostly desolate, and planted trees and shrubs on it. Morton began writing about the value of trees in the Nebraska City News, Nebraska's first newspaper, where he was the editor. In 1872, Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture the idea for a day for everyone in Nebraska to plant trees. Arbor Day became an official state holiday in Nebraska in 1885. It was designated to take place on April 22, on Morton's birthday. But it wasn't until 1970 when Arbor Day became National Arbor Day. Although the holiday had always been held towards the end of April, it was also at this time that the day began being celebrated nationally on the last Friday of the month.
What coronavirus tells us about climate change on Earth Day's 50th anniversary
The Seattle Times headline on Seattle’s first Earth Day, on April 22, 1970, was prescient. So much so, it could have been written on this year’s 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
US Supreme Court Rules Against Maui In Major Clean Water Case
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Maui County can’t skirt the Clean Water Act by merely pumping its sewage into groundwater before discharging it into the ocean.
On Earth Day, activists call for environmental justice in the face of the coronavirus pandemic
Washington’s broadest coalition of climate activists is using the 50th anniversary of Earth Day to call for a just recovery from COVID-19.
Ten Years after Deepwater Horizon, Worries Remain
Efforts to clean up the lingering effects of the oil spill are well underway, but secrecy and deregulation have returned to the Gulf, raising the specter of a repeat. Boyce Upholt reports.
White House readies push to slash regulations as major part of its coronavirus economic recovery plan
Senior White House and Trump administration officials are planning to launch a sweeping effort in the coming days to repeal or suspend federal regulations affecting businesses.
EPA Finalizes Rollback of Water Pollution Safeguards
Pulling the plug on the eve of Earth Day, the Environmental Protection Agency eliminated critical pollution rules from the Obama era that had safeguarded at-risk ecosystems and drinking water across the country.
E.P.A. Weakens Controls on Mercury
The Trump administration on Thursday weakened regulations on the release of mercury and other toxic metals from oil and coal-fired power plants.
SeaDoc Awards Salish Sea Science Prize to Crab Team
Washington Sea Grant’s Crab Team is winner of the SeaDoc Society’s 2020 Salish Sea Science Prize, which comes with a $2,000 no-strings-attached cash award.
Ecology: Saving Dynamic Coastal Wetland Habitat
The Washington State Department of Ecology has secured grants worth more than $5 million that will help locals restore and enhance nearly 500 acres of coastal wetlands and 17,500 feet of marine shoreline in Jefferson, Kitsap, Snohomish, Thurston, and Whatcom counties.
The great data freeze: How the pandemic will set back environmental science
With the majority of environment-focused scientists, natural resource managers and field technicians who study and maintain the natural world working remotely to flatten the curve, the flow of crucial data yielded by fieldwork has essentially been frozen.
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These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato (@) salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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