COEUR d’ALENE — As Venture Academy junior Alethea Konen helped bag tree seedlings Tuesday morning, she couldn’t help but recall when she received a seedling as a fourth grader, a tradition that has now spanned 40 years.

“I think it’s awesome that they still do this,” Alethea said. “Every Earth Day, that memory resurfaces.”

What began in 1985 with a few hundred seedlings distributed to Coeur d’Alene students has grown to over 2,000 seedlings given to every fourth grader in Kootenai County, said John Schwandt, chair of the city’s Urban Forestry Committee.  

The giveaway was started to accompany the Coeur d’Alene Arbor Day program, which was part of the city’s Tree City USA application in 1985, Schwandt added.  

Now called the Arbor Day Organization of North Idaho, the program is a registered nonprofit 501(C)(3) corporation. The program remains entirely run by volunteers, and all donations go to the purchase of seedlings and bagging supplies.  

This year, 600 Water Birch, 400 Flowering Crabapple, 500 Austrian Pine and 1,000 European Mountain Ash seedlings were bagged by volunteers from area high schools as well as master gardeners, foresters and community members.  

Since 1985, the program has given away over 88,000 seedlings of more than 70 different tree species, according to Schwandt. 

Tuesday’s volunteers spent about four hours individually dipping seedlings into a special water solution before bagging, tagging and bundling them for shipment to schools. 

“It’s really gratifying to see many volunteers return year after year because this program would not be possible without their help,” Schwandt said. 

Tuesday marked Venture Academy junior Shayla Tyler’s third year of volunteering.  

“More people come to help out every year,” Shayla said. “It’s important to teach kids about what’s happening in their environment, and this is a way to do that.”  

Those new to volunteering were also more than happy to do the work. 

“This makes me feel like we can make a difference outside of our own homes,” said sophomore Haggen Walker.