LEWISTON, Idaho – For the sixth year in a row, Lewis-Clark State College has been designated an Arbor Day Foundation Tree Campus Higher Education.
The recognition will be celebrated with the planting of a new elm tree at 2 p.m. May 1 on the northeast corner of campus at the intersection of 7th Avenue and 6th Street.
The LC State Arboretum Committee selected the prairie expedition American elm (Ulmus americana ‘Lewis & Clark’) as the newest addition to the campus’ collection of trees. This variety will replace several elm trees that were removed from campus due to disease or advanced age.
“The LC State Arboretum Committee chose to plant the ‘Lewis & Clark’ cultivar of the American elm because it reflects both the heritage of our institution and the landscape identity of our campus,” said Carrie Kyser, chair of the committee and instructional designer at LC State. “The tree’s name connects directly to Lewis-Clark State College, making it a meaningful and symbolic choice for Arbor Day. It also helps us restore the historic ‘Art Under the Elms’ setting that has long been part of our campus tradition. Additionally, this variety is resistant to Dutch elm disease, allowing us to reintroduce elm trees in a way that is sustainable for the future.”
LC State President Cynthia Pemberton will attend the planting to speak to LC State’s role as a Tree Campus, and Amanda Van Lanen, Humanities Division chair and history professor, will give a brief historical reflection. The school will also receive its Tree Campus recognition at the event.
LC State continues to be a Level 1 Accredited Arboretum with ArbNet, an international community of arboreta and tree-focused professionals founded in 2011 by The Morton Arboretum. The Tree Campus award is a national program created in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation to honor colleges and universities for effective campus forest management, and for engaging staff and students in conservation goals. LC State achieved the award by meeting Tree Campus Higher Education’s five standards, which include maintaining a tree advisory committee, a campus tree care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance, and a student service learning project.
“Campus arboretums are so valuable because of their multi-causal effects on students,” said Rhett Diessner, an Arboretum Committee member and retired LC State psychology professor. “Evidence-based research has shown that trees on campus increase students' ability to have directed attention in the classroom, a critical cognitive skill for learning. Trees on campus also have emotional effects, lowering anxiety and depression, and increasing calmness. Noticing the beauty of the trees have prosocial effects – natural beauty causes students to be nicer to each other and their professors.”
The college’s Arboretum Committee created a self-guided tour that highlights trees or tree groupings throughout campus. Information on the tree tour and a self-guided brochure can be found on the committee’s website at www.lcsc.edu/administrative-services/arboretum-committee.
The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit conservation and education organization with the goal of making the world greener and healthier through the planting of trees, according to the foundation website.