The Beal Arboretum

The Beal Arboretum. . Loss of native forests in the eastern and Midwestern United States by the mid to late 1800s spurred interest in conservation and in forest regeneration for lumber. While federal support for forestry was in its infancy, greater support was developing in affected states and at research colleges., Botany professor William James Beal, at what was then known as State Agricultural College, recognized the need to investigate ways to regenerate forests and to encourage farmers to plant trees as commercial crops., Beal pioneered new methods of silviculture, including site preparation, planting, transplanting, and cultivating forest trees. He established methods for developing forest nurseries and evaluating native and imported species and for tree seed storage and viability. Many of these advancements were made in the arboretum he founded. Beal would become known as the "father of Michigan forestry," among other honorifics., The first trees were planted here in the fall of 1874. Consisting of two rows of swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor) on a 1.25-acre site, the arboretum grew to two acres by 1876, with about 275 species of trees and shrubs native to Michigan or hardy in the climate. , (Continued on other side), As the campus grew, the arboretum faced competing needs. In 1898 a deer park was added in the southwest corner of the arboretum and an adjacent woodlot, causing considerable damage to trees and shrubs. The animals and fence were eventually removed, but that portion of the arboretum was then cleared for parking. Anticipating the loss of the arboretum, an annex was planted in 1902 between today's International Center and the Red Cedar River. The original arboretum survived the development of student housing in the 1930s and a proposed expansion of the complex in the 1990s that never occurred., While the last plantings were recorded in 1890, selective clearing and maintenance continued. A survey conducted in 1996 determined that 69 of the original trees survived.