Walnut Trees and Forestry
Since arriving in the Senate, Senator Lugar has had a seat on the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. As a corn, soybean and tree farmer, Senator Lugar knows the issues facing Hoosier farmers.
The Indiana forest products industry employs over 59,000 people earning over $1.6 billion annually. It is the fifth largest manufacturing industry in the State. Timber harvested in Indiana ranges in value from $100 to $140 million dollars annually. This timber, together with hardwood timber imported from surrounding states and processed in Indiana, brings the total value of forest products shipments to approximately $4 billion annually.
In 2009, Senator Lugar joined with Purdue University to establish the Lugar-Purdue Future of Forestry Program and Scholarship. Intended to promote the science of forestry and to offer college scholarships to qualified students attending the university to study certain forestry disciplines, the program asks participating students in grades 9-11 to take an online course about basic forest science, conduct a research project and present their findings in the spring at the Forestry and Natural Resources Research Symposium on Purdue's West Lafayette campus. For more information, visit Purdue's website.
Senator Lugar won the Black Walnut Achievement Award in 2002 from the International Walnut Council. He has also enjoyed advocating for the Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center at Purdue University. The Center will house both Purdue and U.S. Forest Services researchers working on the improvement and regeneration of hardwood trees in the Central Hardwoods Region of the United States.
On Arbor Day 2005, Senator Lugar planted a black walnut tree from his Indiana farm on the Northwest Capitol Grounds. Hoosier and national forestry leaders, as well as other Hoosiers in Washington, D.C., were in attendance for this Arbor Day dedication.
Just in time for Arbor Day 2006, the newest black walnut on the U.S. Captiol Grounds is looking vibrant with its first growth of leaves. It is accompanied by a plaque.
The plaque (enlarged above) reads:
U.S. CAPITOL GROUNDS
COMMEMORATIVE TREE
JUGLANS NIGRA
(BLACK WALNUT)
planted by
Senator Richard G. Lugar
to honor the
Forest Industry of Indiana
April 29, 2005
For additional information about hardwood tree farming, please visit these sites.