Spring Tree Tours at CSU, Chico Campus
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 22, 2000
Lacey Williams
530-898-4143
Spring Tree Tours at CSU, Chico Campus
Starting in March, California State University, Chico will offer once again free guided walking tours featuring some of the diverse trees on campus. The tours will be offered at 11 a.m. on five Wednesdays this semester: March 15 and 29, April 12 and 26, and May 10.
The tours start in front of Kendall Hall and last about one hour. Each tour will cover a different part of campus, with as little repetition as possible. In addition to the historical and geographical information about the trees, there will be discussions about general care of the trees, and specialists will be on hand to answer questions.
The first walk, March 1, will show off some of the plants used in traditional and modern medicine such as cascara sagrada (California coffeeberry), ginkgo, Oregon grape, sweetgum and soap root. Any plants that are in bloom will also be shown.
The campus arboretum was officially dedicated on Arbor Day in 1982 and includes all the woody plants on campus encompassing about 250 species of shrubs and vines as well as trees. John Bidwell planted some of the cultivated trees around the mansion and along both sides of Chico Creek in 1870. Others date to the founding of the Normal School in 1887and still exist in front of Kendall Hall. Recent plantings include bunya-bunya from Australia, dawn redwood from China, and purple beech from Europe.
An Arboretum Map, showing the locations of over 200 plant species, is available or $1.50 at the Bidwell Mansion, the Alumni House on Normal Street, the Associated Students Bookstore and the biology department office in Holt Hall.
Along Big Chico Creek, which runs through the middle of campus, is a nature trail with 16 marked sites identifying some of the arboretum plants. A new brochure, Campus Creekside Nature Walk, discusses the importance of these plants and is available for fifty cents along with the Arboretum Map.
Joe Covert, manager of buildings and grounds for the university, and Wes Dempsey, biology professor emeritus, will lead these tours.
For more information, contact Covert at 530-898-6222 or Dempsey at 530-342-2293.
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