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SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY Lots to celebrate at SOU Arbor Day rites Campus to be named a Tree Campus USA, the nation's first Bee Campus USA and get a Tree of the Year award Comment By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Mar. 31, 2015 at 7:36 PM Updated Mar 31, 2015 at 7:37 PM By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Mar. 31, 2015 at 7:36 PM Updated Mar 31, 2015 at 7:37 PM What do you think? --> Have an opinion on this issue? Send a letter to the editor at www.dailytidings.com/sendletter. » Read more X What do you think? Have an opinion on this issue? Send a letter to the editor at www.dailytidings.com/sendletter . » Social News Southern Oregon University’s big Arbor Day on April 8 will feature its anointing as a Tree Campus USA and the nation’s first Bee Campus USA, its Tree of the Year award from the city, the planting of many trees donated by Plant Oregon and a presentation by famed mycologist-author Paul Stamets. The work of Stamets is lighting the way of the often mysterious workings of mycelia — the underground filaments of fungi — and how they do the critical work of breaking down dead trees and regenerating forest soils, says event organizer Mike Oxendine, SOU’s landscape supervisor. The author of six books on mushrooms and allied subjects, Stamets is much in demand worldwide as a speaker, so it was an unexpected honor to land him — and for gratis, says Oxendine. “We’re ecstatic about it,” he says. The 1,500-seat MacNeal Pavilion has been reserved for his talk at 9:30 a.m. A campus tree walk starts from MacNeal at 10:30, after the Stamets talk. The rest of the Arbor Day talks, classes and events be at Stevenson Union. Oregon State University urban forestry and arboriculture instructor Paul Ries will speak at 10:45, followed at 11:30 by local arborist August Schilling, who will talk on the health of local urban forests and strategies for dealing with local pests. All events are free and open to the public and the entire campus will be thrown open for free parking. It’s the biggest campus event all year, he says, with over 500 attending last year. SOU President Roy Saigo at noon will accept the Tree Campus USA honor from the Arbor Day Foundation. The school is also being honored for Tree of the Year for its silver maple in the courtyard between the two new dorms, named Mt. Shasta and Mt. McLoughlin.  The event will also honor SOU’s selection as the first Bee Campus USA, an honor recently achieved by the cities of Ashland and Talent, as they became among the first five to be designated a Bee City USA. The honor comes with a commitment to eliminate pesticides, plant pollinator-friendly plants and other steps.  “It’s a pretty big deal,” Oxendine said of the bee honor, “and it recognizes SOU’s incredible efforts to be pollinator friendly.” Pollinators include bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and green lacewings.  Among the Arbor Day presenters are the Thousand Friends of Oregon, a land use research, advocacy and education organization; and Lomakatsi Restoration Project, a local nonprofit that operates watershed restoration projects in Oregon and California.  The main activity of the “super exciting” day, says Oxendine, will be the planting of 30 large conifer and deciduous trees, along with 1,000 smaller ones, valued at thousands of dollars and all donated by Plant Oregon. Students, staff and faculty of SOU and the general public are invited to take up shovels and help dig the holes. Plant Oregon will actually put the trees in.  Continuing education credit is offered for arborists and landscape contractors for attending all four hours of talks. Environmental science professors are sending students and classes from area schools flock to the events.  Stamets is noted for his research into the once-puzzling bee Colony Collapse Disorder and is noted for his production of mushroom-based supplements with anti-microbial products.  “Mycelia are the building blocks of life and break down everything, so it can be brought back to life,” says Oxendine. “Stamets showed how it could break down oil, even nuclear waste, back to its organic structure, building soil and getting rid of waste, providing everything for new life.”  The Tree Campus USA award requires schools to have a Tree Advisory Committee, a Campus Tree Care Plan, a budget, an Arbor Day and service learning.  Saigo, in a statement, said, “We are very proud to be the first certified Bee Campus USA in the nation. After careful review, our campus leadership agreed that fulfilling the commitments of the program aligned perfectly with and expanded on initiatives to sustain pollinators that were already underway. This program will help us, our students, and our community to be better environmental stewards.”  Oxendine, in a statement, said, “We are committed to developing a Campus Pollinator Habitat Plan that will include a native plant list and suppliers of those plants, along with a least toxic Integrated Pest Management Plan to be shared on the web as a tool for the community at large.” John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Mar. 31, 2015 at 7:36 PM Updated Mar 31, 2015 at 7:37 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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