Arbor Day 2013 - Cedar Key, Florida

The first Arbor Day was April 10th 1872 in Nebraska, championed by J. Sterling Morton an early settler and journalist in the Nebraska Territory. It is estimated that on the first Arbor Day in Nebraska over one million trees were planted. Morton would spend his lifetime as a tireless advocate for the value of trees and the importance that trees have to all of us. Uses range from raw materials in countless products, to food, to providing quality spaces in our lives and many environmental and even emotional benefits.

Cedar Key has had a unique relationship with trees. It`s no mistake that the Island City is named for a tree. Years before Cedar Key became a city, timber cruisers drifted down the Suwannee River on an expedition to locate the rumored Cedar Islands that were said to be located somewhere south of the mouth of the river. They found the Cedar Keys and reported back that the Red Cedar trees were very large and plentiful. By the late 1800`s the Eberhart Faber and the Eagle Pencil Companies were shipping cedar pencil blanks by the train carload to factories as far as New Jersey where they were turned into pencils for a growing nation. Cedar was also used for a number of other building related products, given the woods natural resistance to decay.

It wasn`t just the cedar that was valuable. The towering straight longleaf pines were cut and sawed into the timbers to build a booming economy. Majestic cypress trees, many hundreds of years old, were also sawed into timber for orange crates, fish boxes, boat planking and many other products. Even the cabbage tree (Sable Palm) was discovered to have fiber that made high quality brushes. The Standard Manufacturing Company was established here in Cedar Key. Where the Fenimore Mill condos now stand, was a thriving manufacturing facility where freshly cut cabbage trees were off-loaded from barges and made their way through a fascinating and labor intensive process ending with them becoming beautiful brooms of many sizes that were shipped far and wide. And to this day the bud of the young cabbage tree is still cut and slow cooked to become a prized dish.

Other species of trees were put to use including Bay trees for smoking fish harvested from local waters. Even the stately Live Oaks were often used as fuel for cooking and heating, thanks to their excellent slow, efficient burning and long lasting coals.

Fast forward about a hundred and fifty years and take a walk around the Cedar Key where we have some of Florida`s most beautiful streets and sidewalks shaded by a wonderful tree canopy that includes over a hundred and fifty heritage Oak and Cedar trees. However, other streets have very few trees and are far less attractive as a result. Additionally, there are relatively few young Cedar and Oak trees. In other words, there are not enough new trees to replace the very old ones that are nearing the end of their lives.

It`s noteworthy that the city has recently spent millions of dollars repairing and improving its water, sewer, streets, drainage and sidewalks infrastructure that included a dedicated volunteer effort to identify the Heritage Cedar and Oaks that might be affected by the improvements. As a result, the data collected allowed the engineers to design around and in some cases under, directionally drilling water mains under the Heritage Trees allowing them to stand where they have for hundreds of years. Additionally, road reconstruction techniques in close proximity to the trees were modified to ensure that root systems would not be damaged. As successful as the protection of our Heritage Trees was, the project included no funding for planting new trees. A missed opportunity for sure but one we can correct!

So what should we be doing?. . . . We should be planting trees!
How about a community effort to replant our tree canopy?
Starting this Arbor Day, Friday, April 26th!