What is Arbor Day?
Answer
A day dedicated to planting and caring for trees
Explanation
Arbor Day in the United States is a day dedicated to planting and caring for trees. The national observance falls on the last Friday in April every year, although individual states observe Arbor Day on different dates that align with their local planting seasons (for example, Florida observes its state Arbor Day on the third Friday in January, Hawaii on the first Friday in November, and South Carolina on the first Friday in December).
The original Arbor Day was the idea of J. Sterling Morton, a Nebraska newspaper editor and later U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, who proposed a tree-planting day at a meeting of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture in January 1872. The first Arbor Day was held on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska, where prizes were offered to the counties and individuals who planted the most trees; an estimated one million trees were planted on that single day, an extraordinary number for a treeless plains state. Nebraska made Arbor Day a state holiday on March 3, 1885 and set the date as April 22 (Morton's birthday).
Other states followed during the late nineteenth century. President Richard Nixon issued the first National Arbor Day proclamation on April 27, 1970, and President Gerald Ford signed Public Law 94-200 on December 31, 1975 (without naming Arbor Day specifically) recognizing tree planting and conservation. President Jimmy Carter issued Proclamation 4554 on April 27, 1977, designating the last Friday in April as National Arbor Day, an observance that has been continued by every subsequent president.
Arbor Day is not a federal public holiday under 5 U.S.C. section 6103 (federal offices remain open), but it is widely observed in schools, parks, civic organizations, and state government programs. The Arbor Day Foundation, founded in 1972 to mark the centennial of the first Arbor Day, is the principal national organization promoting the observance and runs the Tree City USA program (recognizing communities that meet four standards for urban forestry) and other tree-planting initiatives.
The day's purpose is environmental: trees absorb carbon dioxide, produce oxygen, prevent soil erosion, provide wildlife habitat, lower urban temperatures, and beautify communities. Many schools observe Arbor Day with planting ceremonies, environmental education, and student involvement in local park projects. Arbor Day shares thematic territory with Earth Day (April 22), which focuses more broadly on environmental protection.
Why this matters for your test
Knowing what Arbor Day is connects applicants to a long-standing American conservation tradition that began in Nebraska and that operates today through state and federal proclamations and programs. It also illustrates how the United States has developed a layered calendar of observances, beyond the eleven federal public holidays, that mark civic and environmental concerns.
Source: USCIS 128 Civics Questions (2025)
