On a breezy Saturday morning, Earl P. Powers Park buzzed with the sounds of people chatting, children playing and dogs barking as over 75 volunteers came to celebrate Arbor Day in Alachua County. People of all ages conversed under the park’s pavilion, sharing one interest: a love for trees.
Florida Arbor Day is celebrated on the third Friday in January, according to the Florida Wildlife Federation. It’s a chance for community members to support their environment by planting trees.
Lacy Holtzworth, Alachua County’s arborist, helped coordinate the annual event, which featured tree planting, guest speakers and plant giveaways.
“Today is about celebrating trees, of course, but also about learning about them,” Holtzworth said.
According to Holtzworth, Alachua County celebrated Arbor Day on Saturday to give a greater opportunity for more people to attend.
The event’s goal was to plant 15 trees of species specifically chosen to benefit pollinators, Holtzworth said.
Planting trees is one of the most effective climate change mitigation solutions readily available, according to UF’s Imagining Climate Change Initiative.
The event opened with speeches from Holtzworth, UF professor Terry Harpold and County Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler. After a tree-planting demonstration by Holtzworth and presentations about tree care by local arborists, volunteers gathered in small groups around the park and began to plant.
Holtzworth reflected on how important volunteers are to maintaining Alachua County’s environmental mission.
“Volunteers are so good because they want to do it correctly,” she said. “It's not about getting the job done quickest and cheapest and as fast as possible.”
County officials emphasized the importance of celebrating Arbor Day as a way to combat growing environmental issues. Changing climate, stronger storms and increased foliage disease are some of the biggest issues trees face, Holtzworth said.
As the county’s landscape continues to develop, Holtzworth said another central theme for Saturday’s event was balancing expansion with the needs of the surrounding ecosystem.
“We're constantly trying to balance the protection of our culture and our natural resources with making space for newcomers,” Holtzworth said.
Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler read the Arbor Day Proclamation during the opening ceremony and emphasized the county’s support of an environmental mission amid expansions to account for a growing population.
According to the World Population Review, Alachua County’s population has increased by 20% since 2010.
“This board is trying to make sure that there is enough green space left that we can make sure that we have a healthy environment for everybody,” she said. “If we don't have the resources we need, there's no way we can support the population that's coming into the area.”
Terry Harpold, a UF associate professor of English, teaches classes related to environmental humanities. He teaches courses such as Literature of Sustainability and Resilience and Cinema of Environmental Crisis
In the past seven years, Harpold said he’s never missed an opportunity to help plant trees in the community — and he never comes alone. Harpold motivates his students to help plant trees whenever they can, he said. Many of his students were at Saturday’s celebration.
Planting trees gives locals a sense of hope and purpose, Harpold said, which is something he said can be hard for young people to come by these days.
The action is not only constructive, Harpold said, but it can also help their community for decades. He noted the trees planted Saturday will likely live for more than 200 years.
“I like to joke with my students that it may be the most productive Saturday morning you've ever spent in your life to this point,” he said.
One of Harpold’s former students, 23-year-old Caitlyn Cavender, has helped plant trees in Gainesville for the past four years.
“It helped me a lot in my personal life because [my] first two years at UF were pretty rough,” Cavender said. “This was kind of a nice little escape.”
Cavender graduated from UF in December with a degree in botany. She hopes more students feel inspired to get involved with environmental issues in their communities, she said.
Studies show planting trees or just spending time around them can reduce stress and loneliness, restore attention spans and improve overall mental health.
“It's a nice way to feel like your individual action is actually having an impact, because I think that's a big issue now,” she said. “I feel like the problems that we face are so big that you feel pretty helpless, but I think staying involved with your community and doing stuff like this is a good way to feel encouraged about what is coming.”
Contact Kaitlyn McCormack at kmccormack@alligator.org. Follow her on X @kaitmccormack20.
