The Greening Of Main Street

As the home of National Arbor Day, Nebraska has a love affair with trees. From the Omaha World-Herald's Branching Out Program to science class projects to the Community Green Spaces Program of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum (NSA), Nebraskans find ways to beautify their communities, provide shade, habitat and color. Students learn about ecosystems, biology and earth sciences. Water quality is protected and energy conserved.

Jim Locklear, Executive Director of the NSA, explains the benefits beyond the projects, "One of the things we've seen with these projects is that there has to be a group of local folks who come together to organize it and also to raise the local match. Sometimes in some of these communities they've never had a project like these. They've never really organized around any issue and never tried to seek local funding for a project. Once they've learned the ropes with one of our projects then they're prepared to go on to other kinds of things...it may not even be a landscape project. It just seems to give the community confidence and expand their capacity to work with local resources and get even more different kinds of things done."

"I don't think the fund could be managed with higher standards and with a better intent. These projects are really going to be seen down the road - 30, 40, 50 years from now. And I think we'll be able to look back and see all the things that happened as a result of the Trust activities and recognize that it really was a wise use of funds and that its done some wonderful things for the state of Nebraska."

Audio clips: Jim Locklear Audio (150 Kb)

"Many of our trees were planted decades ago by Nebraskans who knew they might never enjoy the full shade of the branches. We must now plant so future generations can enjoy the green canopy that contributes so much to the region's beauty." John Gottschalk, Co-Chair, Branching Out.

Back to What We've Done.