The Nevada Capitol is surrounded by flowering plums in April 2024.
Ronni Hannaman
The wise early settlers of Carson City made sure future residents would enjoy the beauty and the endless benefits that come with the planting of trees. What was then but a barren high-desert sagebrush landscape, is today a celebration of the hardiness of trees as well as the early settlers.
A walk through Carson’s historic downtown or Lone Mountain Cemetery provides physical evidence of the longevity of trees planted long ago, still providing shade for the historic homes and tombstones. Within the cemetery, the oldest tombstones can be found under the canopy of trees.
As we celebrate Arbor Day on April 26, we pay homage to Sam Davis, editor of the Nevada Appeal in 1887, for asking wealthy Adolph Sutro, a resident of San Francisco, to donate trees for the downtown.
Davis organized the planting of 1,000 trees donated by Sutro on Arbor Day, April 13, 1887. Those first 1,000 trees were matched by an equal number donated by Carson City’s residents. And, yet another 1,000 trees were donated by the state of Nevada through Gov. Charles Stevenson, as was reported in the Territorial Enterprise and Virginia City News on Friday, Aug. 12,1955.
By the end of 1887, an estimated 10,000 trees had their roots firmly planted in Carson City soil earning us the reputation as “City of Trees.” It takes an average of 20-30 years for a tree to grow to maturity. While many trees have well over a 100-year lifespan, few of those early trees could still be alive today.
Thirty years ago, in 1994, Carson City was named Tree City USA by the Nevada Division of Forestry under the Nevada Tree City USA Program. Today, the capitol grounds alone have more that 4,200 trees with 890 surrounding the capitol building.
When the city repaved the downtown roads in 2016, young trees were planted to provide future residents with a beautiful green canopy. As we look around our fair city and the outlying areas this Arbor Day, we salute resident’s past, present, and future for keeping Carson City green and beautiful. After all, what could be more beautiful than the blossoms on the flowering pear or plum trees heralding the advent of spring?
German priest and theologian Martin Luther is quoted as saying, “For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.” Let’s all plant a glorious bit of gold or silver this spring season. We’ll all be the richer for it.