thursday, november 15, 1979
daily nebraskan
page 3
An arboretum? It is Nebraska's home-grown forest
By Kevin Field
Nebraska is the home of the country's largest man
made forest or, more appropriately, the largest forest
grown where none had existed before,' according to
Joseph Young.
That forest, located near Halsey, was the result of an
idea that Charles Bessey had. He said trees would grow in
the sandhills, so he began planting them in 1910, Young
said.
This forest may be included in Nebraska's Statewide
Arboretum, along with several other sites throughout the
state. An arboretum is a collection of trees, related plants,
and shrubs used for the purpose of study, research, educa
tion, and enjoyment, Young said.. Young is the curator for
the statewide arboretum, which is headquartered in the
Forestry Service building on East Campus.
Though there arc several hundred arboreta throughout
the nation, most of them are local and serve only the
people in their area, Young said. Nebraska's arboretum is
unique in that it will be a statewide network of arboreta,
designed to serve all of the people of the state, Young
added, .
THE NONPROFIT corporation has just started and is
formulating long range plans. The idea for a Nebraska
arboretum started in the early 1960s, but it did not be
come a reality until 1975 when several people started
working for it,
A committee was then appointed through UNL to start
the program. Finally in February, 1978, the Nebraska
Statewide Arboretum was incorporated, The NU Board of
Regents created the NU arboretum at the same time to
establish a working relationship between the two groups,
Young said.
The long range planning committee of the arboretum
has established several goals. These include creating a con
tinuing respect for plant life, to inspire the use of plants
to enhance the environmental quality of Nebraska and to
encourage excellence in landscape design. As Young said,
"The arboretum is to beautify Nebraska through the use
of trees, shrubs and plants in general."
Nebraska is a transition state as far as trees, and plants
are concerned, Young said. Many species grow naturally
up to the eastern border and many grow naturally up to
the western border, leaving nothing in between. During
the pioneer days much of the state was treeless, he said.
Many of the trees that are growing here are the result of
importation from other areas.
. ONE OF THE jobs of the arboretum will be to work
with plants that do not presently grow in the state, but
may be capable of doing so. "There could easily be 1 ,000
to 2,000 plants that could grow here, but don't. We won't
know until we try them," Young said. He added that the
job could take 100 years. '
The arboretum cooperates extensively with the for
estry department and the horticulture department, Young
said. While those departments are concerned with re
searching and developing, the arboretum works with im
plementation of the research.
A current examples involves work with the Canoe
Birch which grows only near the Niobrara River. The
arboretum has obtained several seedlings and will distri
bute them throughout the state during the next few years.
If they are popular, nurseries could eventually begin sell
ing them, Young said.
There are 14 sites which have been approved for inclu
sion in the network and eight sites currently are being
considered.
YOUNG SAID that he thinks the educational aspect of
the arboretum will become important. Some sites, such as
the one at Blair, have worked with elementary-aged child
ren to promote interest and knowledge about trees and
plants.
The arboretum also has co-sponsored the annual Trees
for Nebraska conference. More than 300 people attended
the conference last year.
Young said that he is somewhat surprised by the inter
est arboretum lias created. He added that when he first
became curator, he thought he would have to promote
trade. That has not happened and membership is contin
uing to grow, he said. People throughout the nation also
are beginning to be interested in the state-wide system and
what it can do, Young said.
"I think the future of the arboretum looks very prom
ising. It all depends on what the people want. The state is
growing, it is in a healthy condition, and it is an interest
ing state to try something like this in," Young concluded.
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