The annual Capitol Arbor Day tree planting ceremony was held under cloudy and a little bit rainy skies on April 28, 2023. A large group of brave Arbor Day foundation staff and other watched and listened as dignitaries extolled the virtues of tree planting in Nebraska in celebration of J. Sterling Morton’s Nebraska grown tree planting holiday. Following speeches by Katie Loos, Arbor Day Foundation President; State Forester Dr. John Erixson; Nebraska Statewide Arboretum Executive Director Hanna Pinneo; and Nebraska Association of Resource Districts Board President Orval Gigstad, State Auditor Mike Foley read Governor Jim Pillen’s Arbor Day Proclamation. Then Mr. Foley ceremonially planted the tree. Afterward, others, including children in attendance, got a chance to add soil to the Princeton elm trees home on the West lawn of the Nebraska State Capitol.
