On Tuesday, April 21, Lisa Sall of the Jerauld County Conservation District and Lokesh Bhattarai of the Forestry Division of the State Resource Conservation office visited fifth-grade students at Wessington Springs Elementary School for the annual Arbor Day program.
Sall spoke about her role as district manager and the services her office provides, including planting tree belts for area farmers and selling trees to residents for yard planting. Bhattarai discussed his work with the Forestry Division, where he helps people across the state care for trees, diagnose illnesses and recommend treatments.
Bhattarai also led an activity on the life cycle of trees. Students acted out the stages of growth, collecting water, sunlight and nutrients, and experiencing natural causes of death such as drought or fire. He showed growth rings on a cross section of a tree and explained the growth cycles of the Black Hills Spruce, South Dakota’s state tree.
Each student received a Black Hills Spruce sapling to plant, along with instructions on proper placement and care.
Sall also presented awards to fifth- and sixth-grade students who participated in the Arbor Day essay contest. The prompt was “The Importance of Arbor Day and Why We Celebrate Trees.” Local winners were: third place, Devin Mentele (5th grade); second place, Liberty Mikkelson (5th grade); and first place, Grace Jackson (6th grade).