Editing Arbor Day (section)

==Origins and history==
[[File:Fiesta del arbol.jpg|thumb|The naturalist [[Miguel Herrero Uceda]] at the monument to the first Arbor Day in the world, [[Villanueva de la Sierra]] ([[Spain]]), 1805]]

===First Arbor Day===
The Spanish village of Mondoñedo held the first documented arbor plantation festival in the world organized by its mayor in 1594. The place remains as Alameda de los Remedios and it is still planted with [[lime (fruit)|lime]] and [[Aesculus hippocastanum|horse-chestnut]] trees. A humble granite marker and a bronze plate recall the event. Additionally, the small Spanish village of Villanueva de la Sierra held the first modern Arbor Day, an initiative launched in 1805 by the local priest with the enthusiastic support of the entire population.

{{Blockquote|While Napoleon was ravaging Europe with his ambition in this village in the Sierra de Gata lived a priest, don Juan Abern Samtrés, which, according to the chronicles, "convinced of the importance of trees for health, hygiene, decoration, nature, environment and customs, decides to plant trees and give a festive air. The festival began on Carnival Tuesday with the ringing of two bells of the church, and the Middle and the Big. After the Mass, and even coated with church ornaments, don Juan, accompanied by clergies, teachers and a large number of neighbours, planted the first tree, a poplar, in the place known as Valley of the Ejido. Tree plantations continued by Arroyada and Fuente de la Mora. Afterwards, there was a feast, and did not miss the dance. The party and plantations lasted three days. He drafted a manifesto in defence of the trees that was sent to surrounding towns to spread the love and respect for nature, and also he advised to make tree plantations in their localities.|[[Miguel Herrero Uceda]]|Arbor Day}}

===First American Arbor Day===
[[File:Birdsey Northrop.jpg|thumb|Birdsey Northrop]]
The first American Arbor Day was originated by [[Julius Sterling Morton|J. Sterling Morton]] of [[Nebraska City, Nebraska]], at an annual meeting of the Nebraska State board of agriculture held in [[Lincoln, Nebraska|Lincoln]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bbcyAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Arbor+Day%22+%22Nebraska+City%22&pg=PA14|title=Arbor Day:Its History and Observance|author=N.H. Egleston|publisher=Government Printing Office|location=Washington, D.C.|date=1896|page=14}}</ref> On April 10, 1872, an estimated one million trees were planted in [[Nebraska]].<ref name=history />

In 1883, the [[American Forestry Association]] made Birdsey Northrop of [[Connecticut]] the chairman of the committee to campaign for Arbor Day nationwide; Northrop further globalized the idea when he visited [[Japan]] in 1895 and delivered his Arbor Day and Village Improvement message. He also brought his enthusiasm for Arbor Day to [[Australia]], [[Canada]], and other countries in [[Europe]].<ref name="Arbor Day">{{Citation|title=Birdsey Grant Northrop|url=http://www.ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/forestry/urban_forestry/arborday.pdf|access-date=2009-04-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090711040119/http://ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/forestry/urban_forestry/arborday.pdf|archive-date=2009-07-11|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===McCreight and Theodore Roosevelt===
Beginning in 1906, [[Pennsylvania]] conservationist [[Major Israel McCreight]] of [[DuBois, Pennsylvania]], argued that President [[Theodore Roosevelt]]'s conservation speeches were limited to businessmen in the lumber industry and recommended a campaign of youth education and a national policy on conservation education.<ref>M.I. McCreight, Theodore Roosevelt and Conservation Why: A Thirty-Four Year Moratorium on Unpublished Records (1940), Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, at p.12, Hereinafter cited "Theodore Roosevelt and Conservation Why".</ref> McCreight urged Roosevelt to make a public statement to school children about trees and the destruction of American forests.  Conservationist [[Gifford Pinchot]], Chief of the [[United States Forest Service]], embraced McCreight's recommendations and asked the President to speak to the public school children of the United States about conservation. On April 15, 1907, Roosevelt issued an "Arbor Day Proclamation to the School Children of the United States"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oWgjAQAAIAAJ&q=theodore+roosevelt+proclamation+to+school+children+1906+1907&pg=RA4-PA9|title=Report|first=West Virginia State Board of|last=Agriculture|date=Jul 17, 1906|access-date=Jul 17, 2020|via=Google Books}}</ref> about the importance of trees and that forestry deserves to be taught in U.S. schools. Pinchot wrote McCreight, "we shall all be indebted to you for having made the suggestion."<ref>"Theodore Roosevelt and Conservation Why"</ref>