News Release Distributed 12/14/10
A Trees and Trails Fun Hike has been scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 22, from 9 a.m. to noon to celebrate Arbor Day at Burden Center. The event at the LSU AgCenter Burden Center in Baton Rouge will support and promote educational programs conducted by the LSU AgCenter, the Burden Horticulture Society and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, according to organizers.
The 5-K Fun Hike will start at the Steele Burden Memorial Orangerie in Burden Center, which is located off Essen Lane at I-10 in Baton Rouge.
An entry fee of $5 for individuals or $10 for families will be used to support the Project Learning Tree program for school children conducted by the Burden Horticulture Society.
Each family will receive a packet of six tree seedlings that will include five different species of trees – river birch, green ash, black gum, cherry bark oak and bald cypress. The packets are being provided by Roy O. Martin Lumber Co. and the Louisiana Forestry Association.
Participants also will be invited to plant a tree along the trail system as part of a reforestation project in the Burden woods. Individuals who plant trees will be given certificates with GPS coordinates so that they can monitor the growth of the trees they plant.
Other activities will include a tree scavenger hunt along the trail, a visit with Smokey Bear, tree planting and presentations on trees and the environment.
The Fun Hike is presented by the LSU AgCenter, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the Burden Horticulture Society, which welcome participants of all ages.
Sponsors include Roy O. Martin Lumber Company, the Louisiana Forestry Association, Baton Rouge Green, Forum 35, the Baton Rouge Junior League, the Louisiana Hiking Club, Whole Foods, Associated Grocers, Live Oak Gardens Wholesale Nursery and the Baton Rouge Coca Cola Bottling Company.
For more information contact Burden Center at 225-763-3990.
Rick Bogren