Free blue spruce seedlings available at Idaho Arbor Day celebration in Boise

Representatives of the Idaho Forest Products Commission will be handing out free seedlings on Friday during the Idaho Arbor Day celebration at the Idaho State Museum in Boise. 

Free seedlings, refreshments, information booths and a tree planting ceremony are all scheduled to be a part of this year’s Arbor Day celebration. Events begin at 10 a.m. Friday at Idaho State Museum, 610 Julia Davis Drive in Boise, according to a press release issued April 18 by the Idaho Forest Products Commission. 

“Idaho is our uniquely beautiful home and trees are our state’s great renewable resource, sustainably managed for the future,” said Jennifer Okerlund, Idaho Forest Products Commission director, in a written statement. “This Arbor Day, we hope you will look to Idaho’s forests for all the things they contribute to where we live and our way of life.”

During the celebration, representatives of the Idaho Forest Products Commission and their partners will be handing out free blue spruce seedlings, according to the press release. The trees can grow 50 to 80 feet high at maturity and the Idaho Forest Products Commission posted some tips online for planting seedlings – including avoiding planting the seedling within 20 feet of a home or underneath power lines.  

Free blue spruce seedlings will also be available to the public at dozens of other locations across the state on Friday, including the Coeur d’Alene City Library, the Eastern Idaho State Fairgrounds 4-H Building in Blackfoot and the Twin Falls Home Depot located at 1650 Pole Line Road. A complete list of locations to pick up a free seedling is available online. 

“From the trees in our back yard and in our local and state parks, to the private, state and federal forests that cover 40% of our state — trees and forests make our lives in Idaho better,” Okerlund added.