VIEW ORIGINAL
It’s hard to find any trees in the photos of the early days of Redstone Arsenal hanging on the walls of the Garrison headquarters.
The Army purchased the land for Redstone Arsenal in 1941. At the time it was mostly cleared farmland. Cotton, corn, hay, peanuts, livestock, and various fruits and vegetables were the primary agricultural products grown by the locals on the cleared land. There was no electricity, indoor plumbing, or telephones. There were few roads, and few trees.
On Earth Day, Redstone Arsenal will be recognized as a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation for the 17th year in a row.
So, how did this land, years after being farmland that was scratched down to red dirt and the building of an Army post during World War II, become Tree City USA.
“In a sense Redstone Arsenal is a preserve,” Tom Richardson, environmental branch chief at the Garrison, said. “The U.S. Army takes responsibility for managing the land. The U.S. Army is very intentional about conservation and restoration of its lands. And the U.S. Army is one of the largest land-holding entities in the U.S. government and it makes a difference that these lands are protected.”
In fact, some people, even some on Redstone Arsenal, do not know the Army has an environmental program.
“People don’t realize the Army has an environmental program. The Army cares about the environment. The Army put a lot of resources into taking care of the environment,” Richardson said.
This concern for the environment, particularly trees, is why Redstone Arsenal has been designated a Tree City for 17 years. The leadership of Redstone Arsenal has demonstrated an investment in managing its trees and forest, one of the requirements to be a Tree City.
“Being designated a Tree City is a nice recognition of the Army’s stewardship of the land and the natural resources,” Richardson said. “Most people are fully aware of the Army’s mission of defending the nation from adversaries, foreign and domestic. But the Army’s mission is also to protect our natural resources and our cultural resources.”
Today, there are a lot of trees on Redstone Arsenal.
“On this 45,000-acre installation, Redstone has approximately 11,000 acres (about half the area of Manhattan) of managed forest. You can look at an aerial map like Google Earth and see that approximately half to two-thirds of the Arsenal has tree cover on it,” Richardson said.
As part of this year’s Earth Day/Arbor Day celebration, the Garrison commander will be planting a tree; he will then sign a proclamation for Earth Day and Arbor Day. The Outdoor Learning Center is the site for the Team Redstone Earth Day/Arbor Day celebration April 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Also,” Richardson said, “we will be handing out 500 tree seedlings. The seedlings will all be native species.”
Richardson suggests if you are planting trees on your own property to think more about utilizing native plant species. You can always call Redstone’s Natural Resources office at 256-876-4572, and they will provide a list of plants native to North Alabama.
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