Westminster Plants More Than 80 Trees to Celebrate Arbor Day
Posted on Tuesday, May 3, 2005
More than 80 trees were planted last weekend at Westminster College Offutt Microforest to celebrate Arbor Day.
"Seventeen campus people planted 37 trees Friday, and 21 alumni and family members showed up in the drizzle and rain Saturday to plant 45 trees," said Dr. Clarence Harms, director of the Westminster College Field Station and professor of biology emeritus. "Since 1997, we've planted over 850 trees."
Each tree planted gets an identification number that is recorded with the name of the person who planted it and a GPS location, so it can be located in the future. The seedlings planted this year include: white oak, black oak, red maple, American chestnut, white ash, black gum, and hemlock.
"The lands we now call Lawrence and Mercer Counties were among those given to Revolutionary War veterans in lieu of salary," Harms said. "These so called Donation Lands were surveyed in a system call Metes and Bounds,' where property was marked and measured from adjoining property using natural landmarks. Those landmarks were mainly trees that today we call Witness Trees.
"Those trees are gone now, but their record remains. By looking at the survey records and plots of the late 1700s and noting which Witness Trees were mentioned, we get a reasonable picture of species diversity in pre-settlement forests. We are using this data to configure a Microforest, a five-acre former pasture at the Field Station where we are planting only those species that could have been in our region."
Each year Westminster invites not only the Westminster community, but scouts, elementary school children, and preschool children from the area to participate in tree plantings. Holes are pre-dug and seedlings, yellow mesh cylinder tree guards, fertilizer pellets, compost, and marking supplies are provided, as well as planting instructions.
'This reforestation project (of reconstructing a pre-settlement forest) is a scientific project," Harms said. "As far as I can tell, none other like it in Pennsylvania. We are documenting the forest in great detail."
Contact Harms at (724) 946-8520 or e-mail harmsc@westminster.edu for more information.
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