SAINT PAUL, MN –Today, Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South Saint Paul) and Rep. Julie Sandstede (DFL-Hibbing) led a bipartisan group of legislators to purchase and hand out trees to the Minnesota House of Representatives. This yearly House tradition has been celebrated around each Arbor Day with members distributing trees.
“Arbor Day is a day where we come together as Minnesotans to celebrate nature and to help our outdoors by planting a tree,” said Rep. Hansen. “As legislators, we should look at the long term dividends of how a tree benefits future generations, just as the legislation we consider here should.”
This year more than 200 Red Pines from the Schumacher Nursey in Heron Lake were distributed. The Red Pine, sometimes referred to as a Norway Pine, is Minnesota’s State Tree and can live several hundred years and reach well over 100 feet tall.
“In northern Minnesota, dozens of varieties of trees cover our landscape, and forestry is woven into our fabric,” Rep. Sandstede said. “I’m pleased that today, we are able to recognize on a bipartisan basis how lucky we are to have this abundance of trees in our state, and raise awareness of about how important they are to our environment, to our rich tradition of tourism, and to many industries which give us a top performing economy.”
The bipartisan group who sponsored the trees discussed the history of Arbor Day, how to plant a tree, about the importance of the Red Pine to Minnesota, and about the Minnesota Nursery from which the trees came.
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