Growing up on the High Plains I only knew trees as carefully maintained decoration and windbreaks that gale force winds, disease, lightning, hail and drought would make short work of without constant care. I remember my first trip to New York State where I was wondering about some trees blocking a view of an on ramp and why someone planted them there. Then it occurred to me. Nobody planted them. These were trees in the wild!
I grew up in Kansas. There were plenty of trees in the towns, that were planted by the settlers. I didn't see any effort whatsoever at maintaining them. There were trees in our yard, and our house bordered a greenbelt of trees. They grew just fine without assistance.
In the high plains, sure. Those areas are natural grasslands; they were grasslands before European settlers arrived and started clear-cutting forests to make room for farmland. However, east of the high plains, before the Mississippi, I'd think there'd be at least some room for new trees.
