For More Info...Earth Day 2009

To commemorate Earth Day in 2009, Troy University Dothan Campus's Environmental Awareness Organization (EAO) commissioned this tree.

Earth Day began in 1970 when environmental activists led by Dennis Hayes convinced UN Secretary General U Thant to proclaim March 21 as a world-wide celebration of environmental improvement. In the United States, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, working with California Congressman Pete McCloskey and activist Hayes, declared April 22, 1970, as the day for a "national teach-in" on the environment. Hayes built the organization in the United States until he was able to make Earth Day an international event in 1990. As a direct result of Earth Day in 1970, Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency. [Sources: "Earth Day: The History of a Movement," Earth Day Network, http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-history-movement (accessed January 12, 2016); "Earth Day," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day (accessed January 12, 2016).]

NUTTALL OAK

“Nuttall oak (Quercus nuttallii), not distinguished as a species until 1927, is also called red oak, Red River oak, and pin oak. It is one of the few commercially important species found on poorly drained clay flats and low bottoms of the Gulf Coastal Plain and north in the Mississippi and Red River Valleys. The acorn or winter buds identify Nuttall oak, easily confused with pin oak (Q. palustris). The lumber is often cut and sold as red oak. In addition to producing timber, Nuttall oak is an important species for w

ildlife management because of heavy annual mast production.” [Source - http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/quercus/nutallii.htm]

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT OAKS

“The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of about 400 species of oak trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus (from Latin "oak tree). The genus quercus is native to the northern hemisphere, and includes deciduous and evergreen species extending from cold latitudes to tropical Asia and the Americas. Oaks have spirally arranged leaves, with a lobed margin in many species; some have serrated leaves or entire leaves with a smooth margin. The flowers are catkins, produced in spring. The fruit is a nut called an acorn, borne in a cup-like structure known as a cupule; each acorn contains one seed (rarely two or three) and takes 6-18 months to mature, depending on species. The "live oaks" (oaks with evergreen leaves) are not a distinct group, instead with their members scattered among the sections below.

The Common North American Oak Species: black oak, bur oak, cherrybark oak, laurel oak, live oak, Oregon white oak, overcup oak, post oak, pin oak, northern red oak, scarlet oak, Shumard oak, southern red oak, swamp chestnut oak, water oak, white oak, and willow oak.” [Source - http://forestry.about.com/cs/treeid/a/the_oak.htm]

The “For More Info” Project

The “For More Info” Project is a joint venture of The Wiregrass Archives and the Troy University Libraries funded in part by a generous grant from the Historic Chattahoochee Commission Seed Grant Program. Begun in 2015, “For More Info” provides a place to find biographical information and images of the people honored in the Memorial Tree Program established by the Dothan Beautification Board in 1991 and continued at Troy University Dothan Campus.

“For More Info” also provides organizational histories and biographical sketches concerning named buildings, rooms, and other facilities on campus.