After school programs, poster contests, and now, working with trees; the Niobrara Conservation District has definitely been busy keeping the youth active and engaged in our community. Completed by fourth graders, The Value of Trees project begins with the students learning about how trees affect our environment and the vital rolls they play in our every-day lives. “They generally know about adding oxygen to the air and providing us shade” begins Heidi Sturman of the Niobrara Conservation District, adding, “This project gets into translating the environmental benefits of trees to us directly and indirectly, by their benefits to the ecosystem, into a dollar value of the environmental benefits we can express…Students will compare the environmental benefit value of their tree to another and then try to figure out what is different that adds to the value; trunk size, canopy size, leaves versus neeldes…”. This years’ fourth grade class participated as a third generation in the project, working with eight different trees from North Side Park around the playground area. The project runs in conjunction with Arbor Day, the national day for tree celebration and education. Per Sturman and the work of the fourth graders, it was discovered that the eight trees at the park ranged in environmental value from $21.00 to $138.00. “All of these benefits can be calculated in a dollar value based on the tree species and the diameter of the tree trunk using The National Tree Benefit Calculator. So, students learn the proper way to measure a tree circumference and canopy, than calculate the tree diameter” states Sturman. Sturman further explains that by giving the students the species of the trees and taking the right measurements, they are then able to enter the information into the tree calculator determining its values. Once they have completed these steps, they fill out tree tags not only listing the overall values of the environmental benefits but also including “…breaks down the number of gallons of storm water the tree intercepts, how many kilowatt hours of electricity is saves, and how many pounds of CO2 it removes from the air”. Following the completion of the project, students create a book with their fact sheets, tree calculator results, and a map of the measured trees, “Students present their findings to the entity that owns the trees” states Sturman. In this case, since they utilized the park, the students and Sturman met with Lusk Mayor, Patricia Smith, and the Lusk Council to discuss and showcase their findings. As this is the third year this project has been done, in the past, students have met with County Commissioners after using trees at the Courthouse and the Fair Board after using the fairgrounds. On Arbor Day, another ceremony is held wherein the students will hang the tags with their findings on the trees which Sturman explains are left for roughly ten days for the public to view and learn about the tree. 

Three years in, the overall goal is for the project to go on at least another ten years, at which point Sturman hopes to circle back to some of the trees used in the past to then study the difference in value as the trees continue to grow. “Students realize that trees have a value beyond the aesthetic value, that there is a monetary value to the benefits the tree provides to us and the ecosystem. It is always very interesting to see how the students engage with the entity they are presenting to as they explain what they have been doing and some of the results they have found” says Sturman.