NEBRASKA CITY-  From a million trees in the Nemaha Natural Resources District to 500 in a former industrial zone, the 2023 tree planter of the year award recipients are credited for transformative work.

An eastern white pine was planted in honor Jack Olson, owner of New Tech Construction and recipient of the governor’s Flood Hero Award in 2019.

 

For NRD Tree Specialist Mark McDonald, the commemorative tree is the paw paw, which he first encountered in a patch along the Steamboat Trace Trail.

McDonald: “It’s like you’re going through a tropic jungle almost. It’s quite an experience with these long, narrow tropical leaves. And then the fruit.”

 

He describes the paw paw fruit after the first frost like a rich banana.

McDonald: “It’s fantastic. I’ ve had paw paw bread and paw paw muffins are fantastic. So that has become my favorite tree. I like all trees, but that’s my favorite now.”

Randy Fox, a 2015 tree planter award winner,  said McDonald fits the bill for a tree planter.

Fox: “Mark has put thousands of trees in the ground. Not only that he seems to like to put specialty trees in, which is kind of neat. His favorite of course is the paw paw tree, but he also puts a lot of flowering trees in all over the district.”

Fox: “He’s ideal for our plan for the natural resource district. Marks is just a super guy and I think and it’s well documented on what he’s done in the commission.”

McDonald said the million tree number is accomplished over 43 years. In the early ‘80s he said the NRD was planting 50,000 to 60,000 trees a year.

McDonald: “It can be windbreaks, wildlife habitat, forested areas. I mean it’s just a love of trees and people. That’s what I enjoy. To this day I still enjoy it. Anything to do when it comes to trees I’m willing to jump in and help whoever I can.”

 

Jack Olson said he was surprised at how many showed up for the commemorative tree planting and to hear about the transformation of the Hidden Falls location.

Olson: “When we bought it, it was just brush and scrub trees. We cleared the land and cleared all the old trees off and decided to plant the trees that we wanted.”

They have been planting 75 to 100 trees a year for seven years.

He said the eastern white pine planted in his honor will be distinct in the grove near the New Tech office building.

TREE PLANTER OF THE YEAR – JACK OLSON

Jack Olson is the owner of New Tech Construction in Nebraska City, but it is his work with the Hidden Falls Cabins & RV Park on Steinhart Park Road and Hidden Falls: The Camp Event Center on 4th Corso that sparked his nomination and recognition as Tree Planter of the Year for 2023.

Since purchasing the Hidden Falls properties, Olson has made the spaces into two beautiful pieces of land, removing dead and dying trees and planting new ones in their place. He takes pride in his property, keeping the grounds well-maintained for the locals and tourists who use it.

Olson has also utilized his property to help others; during the flood of 2019, he turned the Event Center into a distribution center for water, cleaning supplies, diapers, and food – much of which was donated by his own company, New Tech Construction. He also waived rent for RV tenants effected by the flood and used his own plane to ship supplies and water to Hamburg.

In 2020, Olson received the Governor’s Flood Hero award from Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts for his efforts.

TREE PLANTER OF THE YEAR – MARK MCDONALD

The Arbor Day Committee is also choosing to recognize Mark McDonald as a Tree Planter of the Year for 2023. McDonald is a tree specialist with the Nemaha NRD.

In a career that spans more than four decades, McDonald has helped with designing tree plans, preparing sites, and managing crews that have collectively planted more than one million trees throughout southeast Nebraska.

McDonald also takes it upon himself to search out and transplant saplings to more favorable locations, including hand-digging a row of Eastern Red Cedar trees from his own property to that of the current Nemaha NRD headquarters to form a needed windbreak.

Sally Dubois is the 2023 Arbor Day honoree