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Arbor Day at Shaw AFB

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Ashley Maldonado
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  In celebration and appreciation for nature, Lt. Col. Brian Strickland, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron commander, proclaimed Team Shaw’s Arbor Day to be Dec. 7, 2018.

During an Arbor Day ceremony, held at the lake behind the Palmetto Chapel, Dec. 7, Team Shaw members and the South Carolina Forestry Commission planted a tree and a proclamation was made.

“Arbor Day is a special day in which we take time to give something back to our environment by planting trees, and by doing so, they give back to us,” said Michelle Lewis, 20th CES chief of installation management, on behalf of Strickland.

The first American Arbor Day celebration was held in Nebraska City, Nebraska, by J. Sterling Morton in 1872.

Recognized as a national holiday, President Theodore Roosevelt issued an “Arbor Day Proclamation to the School Children of the United States” on April 15, 1907.

“Planting a tree on Arbor Day symbolizes our commitment to maintaining healthy trees in our surroundings,” said Ronnie June, 20th CES chief of natural cultural resources. “One of the major objectives of our Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan is to protect, improve, expand and restore the native habitats on the lands utilized by the United States Air Force here at Shaw Air Force Base.”

The attendees of the ceremony planted a Green Ash, a native tree to South Carolina, as a demonstration of Team Shaw’s commitment to the environment.

“I urge that Arbor Day be observed as a special occasion by the people of Shaw Air Force Base for recognizing the intrinsic value of trees,” Lewis said on behalf of Strickland. “I also encourage continued maintenance thereof of this valuable natural resource, thus making our community a better place in which to live and work.”