HPU Poll: Americans and North Carolinians Appreciate Benefits of Trees as Arbor Day Approaches

HIGH POINT, N.C., April 23, 2026 – With Arbor Day arriving this year on Friday, April 24, High Point University’s latest polls explore how North Carolina residents and Americans overall view the holiday, the environmental benefits of trees and the awareness of Arbor Day.

The majority of Americans and North Carolina respondents value the environmental and aesthetic benefits trees provide. Majorities of U.S. respondents (57%) and North Carolinians (65%) said they value improved air quality “very much,” while similar majorities said the same about shade and cooling (U.S. 57%, North Carolina 63%) and wildlife habitat (U.S. 56%, North Carolina 61%).

Many U.S. residents and North Carolinians also highly value trees for their beauty (U.S. 53%, North Carolina 58%) and their role in capturing carbon dioxide (U.S. 51%, North Carolina 56%).

Most U.S. residents (66%) and North Carolinians (72%) believe tree planting to combat climate change is either “extremely important” (U.S. 37%, North Carolina 38%) or “very important” (U.S. 29%, North Carolina 34%) in combating climate change.

Despite these positive views of trees, awareness and participation in Arbor Day activities remain relatively low. Only about a third of U.S. residents (35%) and two in five North Carolinians (40%) surveyed knew that National Arbor Day is observed on the last Friday of April. Less than a third (U.S. 27%, North Carolina 31%) reported ever participating in an Arbor Day event, such as a tree planting or community clean-up.

Tree planting at the individual level is also limited. Only about a quarter of U.S. respondents (26%) and 30% of North Carolina respondents said they had planted a tree in the last year. About two-thirds (U.S. 68%, North Carolina 64%) said they had not planted trees in the past year. Awareness of community-level tree planting events is also low, with 68% of U.S. adults and 67% of North Carolinians reporting they were unaware of such initiatives in their area.

Just about one-fifth of U.S. adults (20%) and 22% North Carolina respondents said they had donated to an organization dedicated to planting trees or conserving forests in the past year.

The findings suggest that while Americans and North Carolinians appreciate the many benefits trees offer, there is an opportunity to increase awareness and involvement in Arbor Day activities and environmental initiatives statewide.

HPU Poll 121 – North Carolina Residents (April 2026)

North Carolina Residents – Arbor Day Awareness

Are you aware that National Arbor Day is observed on the last Friday of April each year?

Yes – 40%

No – 48%

Unsure – 13%

 North Carolina Residents – Arbor Day Participation

Have you ever participated in an Arbor Day event, such as tree planting or community clean-up?

Yes – 31%

No – 62%

Unsure – 7%

North Carolina Residents – Tree Planting

Have you planted a tree in the past year?

Yes – 30%

No – 64%

Unsure – 6%

 North Carolina Residents – Arbor Day Initiatives

Are you aware of any Arbor Day events or tree planting initiatives in your local community?

Yes – 25%

No – 67%

Unsure – 8%

North Carolina Residents – Tree Planting or Forest Conservation Donations

In the past year, have you donated to an organization dedicated to planting trees or conserving forests?

Yes – 22%

No – 72%

Unsure – 6%

North Carolina Residents – Tree Benefits Values

North Carolina Residents – Tree Planting Combating Climate Change

How important do you believe tree planting is in combating climate change?

Extremely important – 38%

Very important – 34%

Somewhat important – 18%

Not very important – 5%

Not at all important – 4%

HPU Poll 122 – United States Residents (April 2026)

United States Residents – Arbor Day Awareness

Are you aware that National Arbor Day is observed on the last Friday of April each year?

Yes – 35%

No – 54%

Unsure – 12%

United States Residents – Arbor Day Participation

Have you ever participated in an Arbor Day event, such as tree planting or community clean-up?

Yes – 27%

No – 65%

Unsure – 8%

United States Residents – Tree Planting

Have you planted a tree in the past year?

Yes – 26%

No – 68%

Unsure – 6%

United States Residents – Arbor Day Initiatives

Are you aware of any Arbor Day events or tree planting initiatives in your local community?

Yes – 23%

No – 68%

Unsure – 9%

United States Residents – Tree Planting or Forest Conservation Donations

In the past year, have you donated to an organization dedicated to planting trees or conserving forests?

Yes – 20%

No – 73%

Unsure – 8%

United States Residents – Tree Benefits Values

United States Residents – Tree Planting Combating Climate Change

How important do you believe tree planting is in combating climate change?

Extremely important – 37%

Very important – 29%

Somewhat important – 23%

Not very important – 6%

Not at all important – 5%

Methodology:

HPU Poll 121 was fielded by the High Point University Survey Research Center from March 25 to April 13 as an online survey using a panel of respondents recruited and maintained by Dynata. Dynata sent invitations to its panel of North Carolina respondents and the SRC collected 904 responses (an all-adults sample) on its Qualtrics platform.

HPU Poll 122 was fielded by the High Point University Survey Research Center from March 29 to April 3 as an online survey using a panel of respondents recruited and maintained by Dynata. Dynata sent invitations to its nationwide panel of respondents and the SRC collected 1,001 responses (an all-adults sample) on its Qualtrics platform.

The online samples were from panels of respondents, and their participation does not adhere to usual assumptions associated with random selection. Therefore, it is not appropriate to assign margins of sampling error for the results.

For the all-adults HPU Poll 121 sample, the SRC provides a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points to account for a traditional 95% confidence interval for the estimates (plus or minus 3.3 percentage points) and a design effect of 1.1 (based on the weighting).

For the all-adults HPU Poll 122 sample, the SRC provides a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points to account for a traditional 95% confidence interval for the estimates (plus or minus 3.1 percentage points) and a design effect of 1.1 (based on the weighting).

In all cases, the data is weighted toward population estimates for age, gender, race, education and ethnicity based on U.S. Census numbers for the respective adult populations of the United States and North Carolina. The High Point University Survey Research Center (SRC) produces weights through an iterative procedure within SPSS. Factors such as question wording and other methodological choices in conducting survey research can introduce additional errors into the findings of opinion polls.

Further results and methodological details from the most recent survey and past surveys can be found at the Survey Research Center website. Materials online include past press releases as well as memos summarizing the findings (including approval ratings) for each poll since 2010.

The HPU Poll reports methodological details in accordance with the standards set out by AAPOR’s Transparency Initiative, and the HPU Survey Research Center is a Charter Member of the Initiative.

Dr. Martin Kifer, chair and professor of political science, serves as the executive director of the HPU Poll for the Survey Research Center.

Dr. J.R. Moller serves as the staff director of the HPU Poll for the Survey Research Center.