To celebrate, Forestry Associations in various provinces and territories organized votes for official trees. Five provinces adopted official trees that year. Three provinces and the Northwest Territories adopted official trees soon after 1987. Today, it appears that the Yukon Territory and the newly created Nunavut are alone without official trees. They provide lumber for building material, furniture, fence posts, telephone poles, fuel, and other uses.
Trees produce fruit, nuts, and seeds that feed people and wildlife alike.
Trees also have tremendous esthetic value. Many trees are considered beautiful, especially those that produce flowers or whose leaves change colors in fall. On the nearly treeless Great Plains, few sights were more beautiful than a lone cottonwood. Here, pioneers especially appreciated trees for the protection they offered from sun and wind. The importance of trees is indicated by the myriad symbols they have inspired.