News-Press Online - Arbor Day Celebration

BY DAVID SWANSON

Bob Brandt, Unadilla, said that he likes to promote trees because not too many other people do.
“I like to participate in activities promoting tree planting. Tree planting is somewhat of a lost art,” Brandt said.
Brandt’s interest in trees earned him the Tree Planter Award from the Nebraska City Tourism and Commerce Arbor Day Committee. The award recognizes environmental and conservational improvements in the Nebraska City-Otoe County ecosystem.
Since 1977, Brandt has tried to plant 2,000-3,000 trees a year, although he planted some trees before that. He said Carl Erickson, who planted trees at Woodland Hills near Eagle, got him interested in tree planting.
“The nice thing about tree planting is you never know who will get interested in it. Carl bought me trees and made me plant them. I’ve been planting since.”
Brandt now has several nurseries to get his trees off to a good start.
“Tree planting is basically a hobby. I plant a lot of trees, especially native trees in conservation settings so I can plant them all at once. The first 10 years of a tree’s life, I have the focus, then I let Mother Nature take over. If you water a tree when you plant it, you’ll double your rate of success,” he said.
“Trees are a good way to try to meet people. If you plant a tree in someone’s yard and they know you, there’s a lot of camaraderie with tree planting.”
He said that he has helped more than 100 individuals plant trees. “A lot of people don’t know much about trees. You hope you can make it simple for them,” Brandt said.
Brandt says he gets a good feeling when he passes by trees he has planted and gets satisfaction out of seeing them grow. “It’s nice to drive around and look at trees you’ve planted,” he said.
Among the trees Brandt has contributed are 12 trees he gave to the Missouri River Basin Lewis and Clark Interpretative Trail & Visitor Center near Nebraska City.
When Brandt is not planting trees, he likes to look for interesting trees.
Brandt has nominated the largest oak, hackberry, Osage orange and Douglas fir tree for the Champion Tree program. The largest known Douglas fir tree in Nebraska in 2006 was in the north end of Park Hill Cemetery, Syracuse, by the Civil War cannon.
He called the Champion Tree program a good program. The Nebraska Champion Tree Register lists the most common native and introduced tree species in Nebraska.
Brandt is president of Countryside Bank, Unadilla. He and his wife, Barb, have two children and two grandchildren.