Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials today announced grants totaling $10,000 have been awarded through the DNR's Urban Forestry program to 51 Michigan communities and organizations for Arbor Day activities. Click here for the list of grant recipients.

The grant program, with funds from the USDA Forest Service, was created to help schools and communities to observe Arbor Day and the role that trees and forests play in our everyday lives. Grant recipients will receive up to $200 in matching grant funds for planting trees on public lands, hosting an Arbor Day celebration or purchasing natural resource related library materials. Grant projects must be completed by June 30, 2009.

The nation's first Arbor Day was celebrated in Nebraska on April 10, 1872. Its founder was J. Sterling Morton, who had a love for trees that he developed during his upbringing in Michigan. Missing the vibrant array of forests in Michigan, Morton championed a tree-planting holiday in Nebraska, to replant trees that were cleared for building materials and fuel.

Arbor Day has been observed as an official state holiday in Michigan since 1885. This coming year, Arbor Day will be celebrated on April 24, 2009. For more information, contact Kevin Sayers at (517) 241-4632, or visit the DNR Web site at www.michigan.gov/dnrucf.