Keep Ohio Beautiful Celebrated Arbor Day in Ohio with ODNR at Great Ohio Planting Day

Keep Ohio Beautiful Celebrated Arbor Day in Ohio with ODNR at Great Ohio Planting Day

This year’s tree planting held at Buckeye Lake State Park

Thorton, OH – Keep Ohio Beautiful hosted its annual Great Ohio Planting Day, to celebrate Arbor Day in Ohio, on Friday, April 24, at Buckeye Lake State Park, Fairfield Beach.

Keep Ohio Beautiful (KOB) and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) worked together with Columbia Gas of Ohio and NiSource volunteers to beautify by planting 41 large native trees in honor of Arbor Day. In 2026, we will celebrate our eighth tree planting with NiSource in our Ohio state parks. Funding for the project was provided to KOB through the NiSource Charitable Fund.

“Columbia Gas pleased to continue its partnership with ODNR and KOB this Arbor Day,” said Kristy Monk, Keep Ohio Beautiful board member and NiSource employee. “This partnership supports our mission of environmental stewardship while enhancing the visitor’s experience at Buckeye Lake State Park.”

“Adding healthy, native trees to our state parks restores shade and wildlife habitat,” said ODNR Director Mary Mertz. “Visitors to Buckeye Lake and other state parks will enjoy the legacy of our partners, Keep Ohio Beautiful and Columbia Gas, for generations to come.”

Each year, Keep Ohio Beautiful celebrates Great Ohio Planting Day on Arbor Day to provide a firsthand educational program, which demonstrates how to properly prepare a planting site, plant, and care for a tree. In past years, KOB volunteers have planted more than 375 mature native trees at Alum Creek, Deer Creek, Delaware, East Fork, Mt. Gilead and Mohican state parks.

As a state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, Keep Ohio Beautiful serves as Ohio’s umbrella organization for more than 40local affiliate organizations in numerous Ohio communities. By providing a dedicated support system and the sharing of best practices, Keep Ohio Beautiful enables volunteers in communities throughout Ohio to improve waste handling practices, litter prevention, recycling, beautification, and community greening efforts. For more information, visit keepohiobeautiful.org.