Future Plans

The Arboretum's Master Plan, completed in 1993, presents suggestions for several areas that are central to the Arboretum's future.

The original development plan for plant collections called for planting taxonomically diverse tree and shrub species from a wide variety of regions around the world. Because this is an ambitious plan and because there are some concerns about how large scale introduction of exotic species would impact the site, this plan was revised in 1998 to focus development over the short term on local and regional indigenous plant species. These indigenous species will be organized into groupings that will give the impression of natural communities and that will highlight the site's wide range of existing ecological conditions.

To support Collections development and provide the infrastructure necessary to make the Arboretum and its resources fully accessible to the public, a number of improvements and additions to the site's facilities were planned for in the Master Plan. Plans for the construction of a new Visitor Center and an Education Center which would serve both the general public and other educational institutions, and house large meeting rooms, offices and a reference library were laid out. Although the Arboretum now has administrative offices on site, an education center is still a goal for the future.