Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park, California
© Orbon Alija/Getty Image
Warm light through an ancient forest. Arbor Day
On this last Friday of April, we're celebrating the importance of planting and preserving trees. The history of this day—Arbor Day—can be traced back to Nebraska in the early 1870s when a journalist, Julius Sterling Morton, editor of the Nebraska City News, used his public platform to highlight the ecological importance of trees. In 1872, he proposed a day for Nebraskans to plant trees, and thus, Arbor Day came into existence.
The giant sequoia, seen here, is an embodiment of the significance of trees. According to the US National Park Service, geological evidence shows that sequoias have one of the oldest lineages of any living thing on earth. Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park, pictured here, has hundreds of sequoias that can be as ancient as 3,500 years old.
Related Images
Blooming jacaranda trees in New Farm Park, Brisbane, Australia
Living root bridge in India
Letchworth State Park, New York, USA
Lake Dobson in Mount Field National Park of Tasmania, Australia
A carpet of bluebells in beech woodland, Hertfordshire
Pine Log State Forest, Florida, USA
A mountain gorilla eating in a tree in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda
Meditation domes at the Beatles Ashram in Rishikesh, India
Bing Today Images
