Originally called “Urban Tree Talk”, the title of our newsletter has been updated to "Arizona Forestry In Focus" to better reflect the topics and articles that will be presented each quarter. Don’t worry, you will continue to see the same great information from our expanding Urban and Community Forestry and Forest Health programs! However, you will now also receive updates on Forest Stewardship, Forest Legacy, and our Healthy Forest Initiative. DFFM Forestry programs have been growing rapidly; we want to share all the great work our teams perform on a daily basis.

For those who haven't heard of DFFM’s Healthy Forest Initiative (HFI), this initiative focuses on the identification and removal of hazardous vegetation from ALL LANDS in Arizona for fire prevention, forest and watershed restoration, and critical infrastructure protection. We’ll be offering more than $15 million per year to the private forest industry and partners via grants. In addition, our forestry programs are going all-in with new technology such as our Forestry Information Tracking System (FITS) that will geo-spatially track and display all projects throughout the state from past, present, and future.

We want this newsletter to be your resource for forestry information at the state level. We aim to provide you with relevant updates on our projects, new publications and technologies from the field, alongside upcoming community events, grants, and professional opportunities. At DFFM, the future is bright and we’ve been presented with incredible opportunities to do more. We’re happy to share and excited for you to be a part of it!

John C. Richardson

Assistant State Forester, Forestry Programs

2023 Urban and Community Forestry Award Winners

Each year, we ask the public to nominate individuals, businesses, government employees, and partnerships for exceptional urban and community forestry work performed in the previous calendar year. Congratulations to this year's winners, whose work in 2022 has improved Arizona's urban and community spaces in tree-mendous ways!

Aly McAlexander, Forest Health Program Manager

Forests cover approximately 19 million acres in Arizona, comprised of the lower desert scrub and pinyon-juniper woodlands to the high elevation mixed conifer forests. Urban areas also include forests that are typically composed of a mix of native and introduced tree species that require various management techniques. With this diversity of forests comes a diverse group of insects and diseases, from native and non-native pine engraver beetles to introduced fungal pathogens such as white pine blister rust.

Each year, DFFM partners with the USDA Forest Service Forest Health Protection team to perform an Aerial Detection Survey (ADS), where millions of forest and woodland acres are surveyed from the air. To provide the data and information to land managers and the public, the DFFM Forest Health team creates an annual conditions report that discusses current landscape level forest and woodland health conditions.

A Note on Tall Pot Trees

Willie Sommers, Invasive Plant Program Coordinator and LoriAnne Barnett Warren, Urban Forestry Program Manager

"Tall pots” are plants grown in a tall, thin container - 30 inches long with a 6 inch diameter opening (pictured). Plants are commonly grown for up to a year in smooth-walled PVC to allow roots to fill out the tube. This method may be useful to nurseries charged with growing out stock for the Million Tree and high-volume reforestation efforts, which we are excited to see happening around our state.



Pictured above: Tall potted trees

Why tall pots? Tall pot trees allow native desert plants to grow a long tap root and have a higher root to shoot ratio, mimicking the growth pattern of desert or arid land trees. A screen is placed at the bottom of the container to allow drainage, but keep the soil in place. When it comes time for planting, the screen at the bottom is removed and the container is placed in an augered hole. Based on guidelines from the Maricopa County Flood Control District which established a native tree nursery in 2002, the steps for planting include filling the planting hole with water and allowing it to drain completely. More than 10,000 tall pot trees have been planted since the beginning of the Maricopa County tall pot tree nursery program with an estimated 80% survival rate. 

Benefits of planting trees grown in this manner are not needing to provide supplemental water and obtaining good survival rates. Other considerations, similar to planting other species, are the need to protect from herbivory damage using tools such as wire cages or liquid fence deer and rabbit repellent. Desert-adapted species that can be grown in tall pot containers are Desert Willow, Blue and Foothills Palo Verde, Honey, Velvet and Screwbean Mesquite, and Catclaw and Whitethorn Acacia. 

Have you had experience with tall pot trees? Have they been successful? Let us know!  

The Northeast District (A2S) has recently completed a range

of projects to improve forest health, restore vegetation communities, and reduce wildfire risk. A2S encompasses Apache, Navajo, and portions of Coconino and Greenlee County. Projects on private, state, and federal lands have created opportunities for collaboration with many different partners and other government agencies.