Spirit Lake Tribe celebrates Arbor Day with school orchard planting

The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) in collaboration with partner agencies including Spirit Lake Tribal Realty, North Dakota Forest Service, North Central Soil Conservation District (NCSCD), & North Dakota State University (NDSU) Extension held Earth Day & Arbor Day activities at Tate Topa Tribal School Orchard on Thursday May 14, 2026.

North Dakota Forest Service and NDSU Extension held an introductory orchard workshop in the morning with students and staff from the Natural Resource Department of Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC) learning about identification, care, and maintenance of trees and shrubs species in the established orchard at Tape Topa School planted in 2018. The session was led by Cody Clemenson and Noah Schaeffer of the ND Forest Service and Scott Knoke and Lindy Berg of NDSU Extension along with Elizabeth Krause of the NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center Northern Hardy Fruit Project Manager. Attendees were able to do hands on learning about different care techniques and tools related to pruning, disease and pest identification at the site.

The afternoon involved activities with over 120 students from Tate Topa Tribal School and Warwick Public School in the afternoon. Over 40 Volunteers came from multiple agencies and partners including teachers and staff from both schools, ND Forest Service, NCSCD, NRCS staff, NDSU Extension, CCCC students and staff, Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC), and Spirit Lake Tribe.

Activities began with an introduction by Adam Flaagan, NRCS Tribal Liaison for Spirit Lake Tribe, talking about the existing orchard at the school planted in 2018 through the NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and its purpose with native species to North Dakota and the site. The introduction was then handed to Cody Clemenson with the ND Forest Service who discussed the trees in the original orchard and identifying them along with what kind of fruit they produce and their importance in North Dakota. Students then gathered around Noah Schaeffer who did a demonstration on how to properly plant large deciduous trees, what to look for, and how to care for new trees. Students were then broken up into groups of 5 to plant their own trees with help of volunteers. Approximately 40 large fruit deciduous trees were planted at the Tate Topa School Orchard addition.

Once students were done planting the large trees they were able to see a demonstration by the NCSCD of how conservation trees are planted by machine. Wanda Teigen and staff of NCSCD also talked about the different types of conservation grade trees (plugs versus bare root) and how to properly hand plant them through weed barrier / landscape fabric. Conservation trees planted that day included four rows of Juneberries to add more diversity to the orchard site.

After the machine demonstration, students visited the northern part of the orchard site and listened to Cody and Noah with ND Forest Service talk about the importance of windbreaks and their role in the landscape and wildlife. A demonstration of how to properly plant conifers was done, and students helped plant the remaining tree windbreak rows of conifers, consisting of 40 Meyer and Black Hills spruce.

The day wrapped up with another demonstration by the NCSCD how landscape fabric is applied to conservation trees for weed control after the trees were already planted. Spirit Lake Fire Department crews came out with their trucks and helped students’ water all the trees. Thanks to those crews for their assistance with this project.

Thank you to all the attendees and volunteers who helped make this day possible including the North Dakota Forest Service, North Central Soil Conservation District, Natural Resource Conservation Service staff, NDSU Extension, Spirit Lake Tribe, Cankdeska Cikana Community College students and staff. Finally, a special thanks to Byron Engberg and Penny Morin of Tate Topa School and all the students and staff that came out that day!

Written by Adam Flaagan, Tribal Liaison Spirit Lake Tribe, USDA-NRCS