By Barbara Boye Mattoon Trees The longer I live on this planet we call Earth, the more concerned I become about how we are treating it.  I have always been aware of Earth Day but have never participated in activities surrounding it.  This year I began to think about how Earth Day relates to genealogy, and that train of thought led me to trees. Why are trees important to the inhabitants of planet Earth?  Here are just a few of the reasons: Trees take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen for us to breathe. Trees take in dust and other pollutants. Wood was the first fuel and is still used by about half the world’s population for heat and cooking. 2 Trees provide wood for building, furniture, sports equipment, and wood pulp for making paper. Quinine, aspirin and other drugs are derived from tree bark. Oranges, apples, nuts and a myriad of other foods are provided by trees. The USDA, Forest Service states that trees properly placed around a building can reduce air conditioning

By Barbara Mattoon                                                                                   1 I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. Joyce Kilmer 1914 The longer I live on this planet we call Earth, the more concerned I become about how we are treating it.  I have always been aware of Earth Day but have never participated in activities surrounding it.  This year I began to think about how Earth Day relates to genealogy, and that train of thought led me to trees. Why are trees important to the inhabitants of planet Earth?  Here are just a few of the reasons: Trees take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen for us to breathe. Trees take in dust and other pollutants. Wood was the first fuel and is still used by about half the world’s population for heat and cooking. 2 Trees provide wood for building, furniture, sports equipment, and wood pulp for making paper. Quinine, aspirin and other drugs are derived from tree bark. Oranges, apples, nu