Planting with a purpose: Volunteers gather in Bozeman to plant trees

Folks in Bozeman are out planting trees in celebration of Arbor Day. They say sprucing up the community with more trees is beneficial in many ways, but it’s no easy job.

“Our earth is burning, so any little thing we can do to help slow that process is pretty cool,” Ruthie Barbour said.

Barbour and her friends were at the softball complex across from the hospital, volunteering at an Arbor Day event hosted by the City of Bozeman Parks and Recreation Department’s Forestry Division.

“I just wanted to spend my time that I’m not working out here helping,” Barbour said.

Ruthie admitted that planting trees was a lot more work than she thought.

“I didn’t know the specifics of planting a tree, how much water a tree needs, and the continued care,” Barbour said.

Another thing she learned?

“That Arbor Day started that long ago in Nebraska,” Barbour said.

In 1872 to be exact.

The tradition is continuing right here in Bozeman as volunteers plant 20 trees along Highland Boulevard and around the watercourse running through the park.

Something that Forestry Division Manager Alex Nordquest says will improve water quality.

“They’re providing us with shade of course, but they’re also purifying the air, the soil and they provide traffic calming,” Nordquest said.

And they’re pretty to look at.

“This is an area that we realized didn’t have any street trees,” Nordquest said.

When they’re finished planting, there will be plenty. Nordquest says this will make him happy to see.

This is the 29^th year that Bozeman has been recognized as a Tree City USA. To receive this recognition, cities have to meet four overarching standards: Maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry, and celebrating Arbor Day.

Even though our community is out doing its part, planting away, Barbour says she still has high expectations for the future.

“I’d like to see a lot more trees, cleaner streams and rivers, and a lot more people realizing how cool it is to be out here helping,” Barbour said.