Amata Highlights Arbor Day 2026

Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Uifa'atali Amata is highlighting Arbor Day, which promotes the planting of trees, and widely emphasizes the value and benefits of trees, such as their role in oxygen, human health, food sources, wildlife habitat, and ecology.

A view of the green mountainsides of Tutuila from 2019 - photo by Congresswoman Amata's office

"We are blessed in our beautiful islands with lots of plant life and our land is green from shore to shore with our tropical rainforest," said Congresswoman Amata. "We have plenty of fruit, coconut and other trees that provide some of the island foods we love for us and our islands' wildlife. This week's Earth Day and Arbor Day are wonderful times to pause and notice our trees and vegetation and be thankful. In other places, the goals of Arbor Day are incredibly important to restoring forests, stewarding the land, or recovering from wildfire damages, so we want to be part of championing these efforts. Here in American Samoa, along with our abundance, we have to contend with major storms, slides, heavy rainfall, and wave erosion. Arbor Day is always an excellent class project or opportunity to take care of our surroundings, and look to the future."

The Roots of Arbor Day

Arbor Day began in 1872, starting in Nebraska, where the countryside was grassland, part of the U.S. "Great Plains." Farmers and residents knew they would benefit from nearby trees for shelter and shade, and needed lumber for building and survival in their cold weather state. Soon, their "plant a tree" message developed and spread. That common sense goal reached other states, gaining the backing of newspapers, official proclamations by governors and legislatures, leading to volunteers, classroom projects, and the current focus.

"My friend Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman of Arkansas is the only forester by profession in Congress," Amata concluded. "We oversee the U.S. National Forest Service, and related efforts from the National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service. In this Committee, I've had the opportunity to support bills encouraging planting millions of trees, supporting sapling nurseries, reforestation efforts, and wildfire defenses in the Western United States where our firefighters have responded repeatedly. Thank you again to our dedicated firefighting professionals this Arbor Day."

The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Psalm 92:12

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