April 12th, 2017 by WCBC Radio
Allegany College of Maryland will observe Arbor Day on Wednesday, April 19, with a presentation on Maryland’s historic trees, a presidential proclamation and a campus tree planting. The public is invited.
The event, which starts at noon, features a talk by Francis “Champ” Zumbrun, who served for many years as forest manager of Green Ridge State Forest. The retired forester currently volunteers with the Allegany County Forestry Board, Evergreen Heritage Center and the Committee for Maryland Conservation History, among other groups.
In “Forests for the Future,” Zumbrun will discuss Maryland’s historic trees and their role in shaping forest conservation in the state. Notable examples will include Maryland’s Liberty Tree, under which American revolutionaries advocated independence from Great Britain.
Large, stately trees were gathering places for Sons of Liberty groups throughout the American colonies and Maryland’s was the last survivor. It stood in Annapolis until 1999, when hurricane damage curtailed its life at about 400 years. Zumbrun was instrumental in seeing a descendant of the tulip poplar planted on the ACM campus in 2016.
Offspring of another Maryland historic tree, the Wye Oak of Talbot County, will be planted this year as part of the Arbor Day observance. Estimated to have lived nearly 500 years, it was the largest white oak tree on record in both Maryland and the nation when it was felled in a powerful 2002 thunderstorm.
In addition to the two Wye oaks, 15 other trees will be planted on campus. The project has been funded by the Maryland Forest Service’s Tree-Mendous Maryland program and coordinated by forester Adam Miller.
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