Arbor Day Foundation Honors Top Tree Planters and Conservation Groups for 2011 - Nebraska City, NE

Arbor Day Foundation Honors Top Tree Planters and Conservation Groups for 2011 - Nebraska City, NE - Nebraska City News-Press

   The nation’s exemplary tree planters and environmental stewards received National Arbor Day Awards for inspiring others to plant and care for trees. The Arbor Day Foundation, the nation’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees, gave out 16 Arbor Day Awards during its annual awards banquet on Saturday, April 30, at Arbor Day Farm’s Lied Lodge & Conference Center.
   Since 1972, the Arbor Day Foundation has paid tribute to some of the world’s most dedicated tree planters. Arbor Day Awards honor individuals, organizations, conservation groups and corporations that make a positive impact on the world through tree-planting, and environmental or nature education initiatives.
   “When we honor tree planters for the work they do today, we are commemorating the benefits they are leaving for future generations,” said John Rosenow, chief executive and founder of the Arbor Day Foundation.  “This group of Arbor Day Award winners is leaving a lasting legacy through the simple act of planting trees and caring for the Earth.”
    The Arbor Day Foundation presented Anne Hallum of the Alliance for International Reforestation in Deland, Fla., the J. Sterling Morton Award, the highest honor given by the Arbor Day Foundation. Hallum founded her nonprofit organization to help people in Guatemala by establishing a better, more sustainable quality of life through tree-planting.