Arbor Day is a nationally celebrated observance that promotes tree planting and tree care, and also highlights the importance of trees to our environment, our economy and our quality of life. Founded by J. Sterling Morton in Nebraska in 1872, National Arbor Day is celebrated each year on the last Friday in April.his Arbor Day, the City of Albany is especially grateful for the $250,000 awarded us through New York State's Environmental Protection Fund to improve Tivoli Lake Preserve, an urban woodland area that is a diamond in the rough, said Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan.