FARMINGTON — Arbor Week and being named a Tree City USA town for the 48th year were celebrated Sunday afternoon, May 18, at Walton’s Mill Park off Temple Road in West Farmington.

Sally Speich, a member of the Farmington Conservation Commission shared some tree trivia questions:

• How many species of trees are there in the United States – 850, 375 or 2,000?  The correct answer is 850.

• How many trees does the average American use each year in paper, wood and other tree products – one, seven or 15? Seven was the answer.

• Baseball bats are made out of wood from which species of tree – ash, oak or pine? Ash.

• How many gallons of maple sap are needed to make one gallon of maple syrup – five to seven, 10 to 15 or 30 to 40? 30 to 40.

• A what rate will most tree seedlings grow per year – six inches, one foot or two feet?  One foot, depending on growing conditions and tree species.

• When was the first Arbor Day celebrated? Several incorrect guesses were made. Speich shared the first was held in Nebraska on April 10, 1872, when trees were planted on that day. “Reportedly, there were more than a million trees planted in the state that first year,” she noted.

The commission provided pizza and cold drinks for attendees to enjoy. There were activity pages, coloring books and packs of crayons for children attending and Fred Holt from Fred and Matilda’s Petting Zoo brought a couple of miniature goats for everyone to pet. The goats weren’t sure about being led to their enclosure and needed a bit of extra coaxing to get them there.

Jess Eley of Wilton said she was attending her first Farmington Arbor Week event. She has been involved with invasive plant removal and native plantings in another state, works for Lucas Tree Experts.

Selectmen sign proclamation

At their May 13 meeting selectmen voted to sign an Arbor Week proclamation.

“The third week of May every year the state sets up Arbor Week, something set up by the National Arbor Day Foundation,” Conservation Commission chair Bill Haslam said. “The Maine Forest Service sponsors it.”

Signing the proclamation is part of  the Tree City USA program, Haslam noted. “We have done it every year,” he said. “This is year 48 for Farmington. We are one of three towns in the state to be in it that long which is quite something. I think the program may be 50 years old so we are right up there. All it is is rededicating ourselves to trees and how they affect our community, the benefits they have for us all.”

Pete Tracy, who began serving on the commission in 1983 and resigned earlier this year was recognized by Haslam. “If you read this proclamation his sense of humor is all over it,” Haslam said. “I just wanted to send appreciation for all that he has done for the Conservation Commission and other things. We are sad to have him go but he has been a great contributor over the years.”

The proclamation reads in part, “Whereas, Maine is the most heavily forested State in the United States, Whereas Franklin County is a heavily forested county in Maine, Whereas Farmington is the County Seat or capital of Franklin County, We, the Citizens of Farmington declare Farmington to be the tree capital of the United States of America!”

Status of some trees

Selectman Scott Landry asked Haslam about the future of town trees with the loss of elm and other threatened species including ash. “Is there an idea as to what you might want to plant to replace some of those trees,” he asked.

“Definitely,” Haslam responded. “It is a matter of whether town trees are on town property or are private trees. We have some ideas about some bigger projects. There has been quite a lot of building projects downtown. A lot of trees said goodbye to us as a result of that. It’s not really realistic to put them back in places where they used to be.”

Haslam has talked with Public Works Director Phil Hutchins about an idea. “There is nothing concrete right now, it would be down the road,” Haslam noted. “Some of these ideas would be putting trees where they haven’t been, trying to make a bigger impact. That has been the heart of Tree City USA and Arbor Week, is trying to get tree cover where it can do good. All of the parks in town have a lot of trees, some of them are kind of choked out with trees.”

The emerald ash borer is within 25 miles of Farmington, has to be watched for, Haslam stressed. Andover has dead ash trees in its roads, Farmington will have those situations when the borer gets here, he noted. Ash trees are on private land, a lot are off of the road, he stated.

“We have an inventory of where ash trees are in the right of way in town,” Haslam said. “We have talked with Phil about those. We will keep a watch on them and come up with a plan for other species. It is not easy to find a good species to plant by the road. Red oak is really tolerant of salt but it drops acorns so there is a clean up problem.”

“And the deer love them,” Selectman Dennis O’Neil said.

Landry spoke of a resistant elm becoming available.

“Yeah, and there are chestnuts, too,” Haslam responded. “Chestnuts have the same problem, is a beautiful, long-lived tree. There are some chestnuts around town. I found a baby chestnut growing in my yard. It was under a beech tree, thought it was a beech tree. Then I looked close and the buds are different. It spread from an adult tree nearby and it is growing, so maybe we can find a way to get chestnuts growing.”