Post hosts Arbor Day tree planting

Caring for the environment is important to Sgt. 1st Class Steven Farmer and his wife, Jamie.

Photo by Charmain Z. Brackett (From left) Cathy Black, Georgia State Forestry Commission, Sgt. 1st Class Steven Farmer, Warrior Transition Battalion and his wife Jamie Farmer and Col. John Holwick, garrison commander plant a tree at Heritage Park on Feb. 20. They've worked to instill a love of nature and attitude of concern for the environment in their children, said Jamie Farmer. So it was fitting the couple was on hand to help plant trees at the Feb. 20 Arbor Day celebration at Heritage Park.

"Just about every year, we get involved with cleaning up the environment," said Jamie Farmer, whose husband is part of the Warrior Transition Battalion.

For the 16th consecutive year, Fort Gordon was named a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation.

Cathy Black, with the Georgia State Forestry Commission, presented Col. John Holwick, garrison commander, and Steve Willard, Fort Gordon chief of environmental, natural and cultural resource management, with a Tree City USA flag.

"There are four standards. You must have a tree department, a tree care ordinance, a comprehensive community forest program and an Arbor Day celebration," said Black, who noted that states often designate their own Arbor Day.

National Arbor Day began in 1872 and is celebrated on the last Friday of April. It will be April 24 this year. In Georgia, Black said, Arbor Day is on the third Friday in February. The dates usually fall when it's best to plant trees. In the South, the dates are in the winter months, while in the North, they can be as late as May.

Two red buds, a species native to Georgia, were planted in the park.