Protecting, Sustaining, Advocacy |
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Hi All,
I hope by now you have not only heard of our upcoming 12th Annual Great NC Tree Conference in Durham on September 16th and 17th, but that you told your friends who told their friends who told random strangers they met in the woods while social distancing and “working remotely.” The conference theme this year is “Healthy Trees, Healthy Lives.” Trees have definitely been beneficial to my health and sanity (maybe too early to tell on that second one though). The conference agenda is packed with great speakers and information on how trees and people help each other flourish.
We’ve also got three (that’s right, three!) NC Trees & Storms: Readiness, Response and Recovery workshops coming up. The first is in Duplin County on August 24th, the second in Bertie County on August 25th and the third in Nash County on August 30th. The workshops will guide you through important steps to take before and after a storm comes rumbling your way. Keep on reading below or go to our website to learn more about all these training opportunities. Thanks for stopping by. Y’all be well.
Mark Foster
Board Chair, NC Urban Forest Council
City Arborist, City of Asheville
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North Carolina
Urban Forest Council
P.O. Box 37416
Raleigh, NC 27627
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The 12th Annual Great NC Tree Conference
Durham Convention Center
September 16th-17th
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NC Trees and Storms- Readiness, Response, & Recovery Workshops
Presented by NC Forest Service, NC Urban Forest Council, and NC Cooperative Extension
August 24th, 25th, & 30th (same workshop, 3 locations)
9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
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Green Communities Leadership Institute
January 17 - March 10
Online and In-Person Sessions
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AUGUST 2021 NCUFC
BOARD MEMBER SPOTLIGHT:
Jeff Kish, Bartlett Tree Experts
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The NC Urban Forest Council's Vice-Chairperson, Jeff Kish, works for the F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Company as the Southeast Assistant Division Manager. Jeff assists in managing 13 Bartlett offices located in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Jeff's favorite part of his job is working with his teammates. He has found that, through all of the years, all of the Bartlett employees have a lot in common and have chosen arboriculture simply for the love of trees. Assisting teammates with growing and advancing their careers and skills sets are the most rewarding aspects of Jeff's role.
Jeff has been a board member for NCUFC for about four years. During that time, he has benefitted the most from networking within the organization. He enjoys being surrounded by folks from different arboricultural disciplines that have the same thing in common - the love of trees!
Knowing your species of trees and plants is key to success in the arboriculture industry, Jeff emphasizes. Being able to identify them is the first step. You need to understand the history, cultural concerns, and common diseases and insects that can harm them. Jeff adds, "Arborists work on the oldest and largest living organisms on the planet. How cool is that! I know this sound cliché but we should act like Dr. Seuss’ character, The Lorax." Good advice from our Board Vice-Chair!
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12th Annual
Great NC Tree Conference
September 16-17, 2021
Durham Convention Center
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Featuring Keynote Speaker:
Dr. Vivek Shandas
Vivek Shandas is a Professor of Climate Adaptation and Founding Director of the Sustaining Urban Places Research (SUPR) Lab at Portland State University. Dr. Shandas is trained as an urban ecologist and his research and community engagement practices intersect environmental health, green infrastructure and equity. He has published over 100 articles, three books, and his research has been featured in the NYTimes, National Geographic, Scientific American, and dozens of other national and local media. Dr. Shandas serves as Chair of the City of Portland's (Oregon) Urban Forestry Commission and serves on several local and national advisory boards. His presentation will reflect the ongoing challenges and opportunities for expanding tree canopy into areas that have been historically disinvested.
You won't want to miss this! CLICK HERE for more information or to register for this year's conference. |
LEGACY TREE FUND GRANT AWARDS ANNOUNCED FOR 2021 |
We are very excited to announce our 2021 Legacy Tree Fund projects. As many of you are aware, our Legacy Tree Fund program awards grants to local community groups to plant trees in urban areas. It is 100% funded through donations and grants and we work hard every year to ensure this funding is available to support local tree planting efforts. Through partnerships with the NC Forest Service and the Duke Energy Foundation, as well as individual donations, we were able to award 5 Legacy Tree Fund grants this year.
- Alliance for Cape Fear Trees
- TreesCharlotte
- Greenville ReLeaf
- Keep Durham Beautiful
- Town of Enfield
We are very excited to work with these groups this year, helping educate citizens about the importance of trees and proper tree care, as well as getting trees planted and keeping our communities green.
Plant Your Legacy! To support the Legacy Tree Fund, donate today!
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NC TREES & STORMS: READINESS, RESPONSE, & RECOVERY WORKSHOPS |
Storm events that damage trees are a regular event in NC. Some are wide scale disaster level events like hurricanes or ice storms. Most, though, are more localized like thunderstorms, but they can be equally devastating to a community. As a municipality, you are responsible for the tree damage cleanup and restoration. Trees & Storms: Readiness, Response and Recovery is a planning and implementation process that will help communities reduce tree storm damage, conserve the benefits trees provide and help ensure an efficient and effective response and recovery from tree damaging storm events. Join us for one of three full day workshops geared to local government planners and mangers, consultants, and green industry professionals.
This workshop has been made possible through a partnership between the NC Forest Service, NC Urban Forest Council, and NC Cooperative Extension.
Topics will include:
- NC Incident Command System and Resources
- Building Urban Forestry Incident Response and Management Teams
- Pre-Storm Tree Damage Mitigation
- Pre-Storm Planning – Organization, Documentation & Tree Work Related Service Contracts
- Pre & Post Storm Tree Inventories & Analysis
- Post-Strom Tree Damage Assessment
- Community Forest Recovery Planning
To make the workshop accessible and convenient for attendees in the coastal/central areas of the state, this first round of workshops will be held at NC Cooperative Extension offices in Bertie, Duplin, and Nash Counties. The same workshop will be presented at all three locations. Registration information can be found HERE. Municipal and government employee scholarships are available! |
THE NEXT NEW TREE INTRODUCTION
Plant breeding is a tricky process. It takes a lot of time and money to bring new plants into the market. A different shade of color on hydrangeas may not take as long but a new tree is a whole different game. There are very few new tree introductions on the horizon that I know of.
At the present time we are removing tree choices faster than new ones are coming on. This is limiting the choices that our designers and specifiers have to choose from. How many Redbuds can we really use out there? There are some truly bad trees that can't be grown and planted...ie..Bradford Pear.
There are trees that should be used correctly and then sparingly like Red Maple. We know what the heat island effect does to the insects on them. And the list goes on... The truth of the matter is there are no perfect trees that do not have a negative side to them.
With very few new proven trees coming down the pipeline we must re-evaluate the proven trees that we do have at this time. Take Crape Myrtle, for example. Most of the Crape Myrtle problems are caused by humans....not the tree itself. Planting a 30 feet maturing Crape in a 10 feet hole is guaranteed to bring on "Crape Murder" That same 30 feet variety in place of that red maple will work out very well.
Those 20 feet maturing Crape Myrtles will out perform those red buds under the powerlines. There are true dwarfs that will stay in those concrete coffins that we love to design in every project. But instead of using an existing species wisely, we ban it from all plantings. With no new magical tree out there, we need to take a step back and re-visit the plant palate that we currently have.
Danny VanDevender
Jericho Farms
Pikeville, NC
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GREEN COMMUNITIES LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES FIRST COHORT |
As the community planning and resource management professions have grown over the past 30 years, so has the need and opportunity for leadership training and mentorship of developing professionals. Today, as our leaders face new challenges, beyond what many of us could have ever imagined with a global pandemic and economic instability, a diverse group of conservation leaders have come together to advance a next-level leadership opportunity for our industry.
The Green Communities Leadership Institute developed from a presentation at the Sustainable Urban Forests Coalition 2021 Annual Meeting. The Institute is currently developing the curriculum and partnerships to support its offering in Winter / Spring 2022. If you’re interested in applying to join our first cohort, or to learn more, CLICK HERE.
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