COMMENTS

FROM THE CHAIR

Greetings NCUFC members!

I hope everyone is enjoying the green of spring! I couple cool things to report. First off, please mark your calendars for our 2022 Great NC Tree Conference that will be held in Greensboro, NC from September 15^th – 16^th. The theme of the meeting is “Back to the Basics” and stay tuned for more information and the agenda will be posted soon.

We just celebrated the 150^th anniversary of Arbor Day. The council and members assisted with the City of Raleigh and partnered with the Arbor Day foundation and Meritage Homes. During this event the group was able to plant over 200 trees in the South Park Neighborhood. Hats off to all those who volunteered for this community event.

We reported in the last newsletter about the Bradford Pear Bounty program that was held in Greensboro. This event was extremely successful and a great partnership with the city. The last weekend in April, volunteers handed out close to 200 trees to homeowners that had removed Bradford Pears from their properties. This event was so successful that the next Pear Bounty will be held in Matthews in October and hoping for 4 more events in 2023. 

Thank you all and enjoy the last full month in Spring!

Jeff Kish

Board Chair, NC Urban Forest Council

Bartlett Tree Experts, Raleigh 

North Carolina Urban Forest Council

P.O. Box 37415

Raleigh, NC 27627

FOLLOW US

COUNCIL EVENTS

NC Community Tree Webinar: Examples of How Trees are used in Storm Water Control Measures

Online webinar

May 18

Carolina Canopy Workshop: Managing Biotic and Abiotic Tree Disorders

Graham, NC

June 21st

NC Community Tree Webinar: Volunteer Tree Stewardship: A Partnership

Online webinar

July 22nd

2022 Great NC Tree Conference

Greensboro, NC

September 15-16th

Save the Date ~ More Information Coming Soon!

PARTNER EVENTS

NC GIC Water Symposium

McKimmon Center - Raleigh, NC

July 21

COUNCIL MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Megan Rohlfing, Raleigh, NC

Megan is an Urban Forestry Planner with the City of Raleigh, where her job focuses on reviewing development plans for compliance with tree conservation areas and tree planting sections of City code. In her job, she tries to also advocate for all members of the Raleigh community by asking questions regarding equity and urban forests. She is a relatively new member of the NC Urban Forest Council, joining in 2020, but she has come to really enjoy the NC Community Tree Webinar Series because they are so easily accessible, and the topics and speakers are so informative and concise. He typical workday reviewing development plans and collaborating with coworkers on code development and enforcement. 

When asked about her best word of advice for others in the industry, she responded "Stay curious and be creative! You can do more than you think you can, especially if you aren't afraid to ask questions and push the envelope." A few questions she likes to keep asking are: 

• Are my City's urban forests equitably distributed?
• What are other municipalities doing to improve their urban forestry distribution, both for protecting existing trees and planting new trees?
• What can I do in my job to find policy or procedural inequities, and how can I collaborate with my coworkers and community members to address and correct the issue?

She believes creativity and adaptability are key skills to cultivate in a discipline filled with changes, whether political, ecological, or economic.

Megan's favorite tree is the humble hackberry, Celtis occidentalis because of its "resilient, lovely form, edible fruits, grows wherever you stick it (mostly), and gorgeous deep green summer leaves and bright yellow autumn leaves. And talk about unique bark!"

COUNCIL NEWS

How to Deal with Tree Conflicts

Happy May everyone, hope the warmer weather has been enjoyable for all. At this time of the year we get the full benefit of our plant life. While I thoroughly enjoy our flowers, leaves, and many colors that have come out, I have also noticed some of the most common issues that we all see too often.

In this month's article I would like to bring some of those topics up. There are many issues that trees have to deal with, when you look at the picture can you name a few? I see several, compacted soil, small planting area, girdling roots, and the inability to receive water. Can you think of anything else? Many of our trees in the urban forest have similar issues to deal with in order to survive. What other conflicts do trees have within the urban forest? Would planting them incorrectly (too high or too low) affect them? What about power lines, buildings, construction equipment, or possibly floods or fires?

With so many issues or problems to deal with throughout these trees' lives, they still provide us with many benefits. I personally enjoy having shade to walk into on a hot summer day, or a bench to sit on under the canopy of a nice shade tree. However, with the conflicts for these trees not everyone gets to enjoy the benefits of them. Street trees are very beneficial to our cities and towns, as they provide shade, absorb stormwater, provide fresh oxygen, along

with helping to lower temperatures in the summer, to name a few. So, what can we do to help mitigate the challenges for these trees? Choosing the right place for the specific tree, what about enlarging planting areas along our streets, how about avoiding planting near power lines? Just to bring up a few ideas. We all have to help provide the best chance of survival for our urban trees, from planting correctly, pruning to maintain passable roadways and sidewalks, to fertilizing or treating to maintain their health.

There are many informative links on the NCUFC website. Once on the website click on the menu tab at the top left of the screen and select additional resources. These links are full of useful information if you are interested in a more thorough explanation of topics in this article.



Kyle Coverdale

Certified Arborist

City of Asheville

Don't Miss Out....Spread the Word

May 27 Deadline for Legacy Tree Fund Grant Proposals

Community groups, local governments, schools and others have until May 27 to apply for a grant through NCUFC's Legacy Tree Fund.

The program provides funding for tree-planting projects that conserve energy, improve air quality, and provide many other benefits. Priority is given to recovery tree-planting projects in communities impacted by storms, those with an environmental justice focus or that have a significant volunteer/educational component.

Organizations have until 5 pm on May 27 to apply for a Legacy Tree Fund grant. The maximum grant request for each project is $5,000. Approved projects will start Sept. 1, 2022, and must be completed by May 31, 2023. Tree-planting events will generally occur during the fall of each year but can be adjusted to meet an area’s planting season.

Click here for the 2022 Legacy Tree Fund Grant RFP and application.

Click here for the Legacy Tree Fund webpage.

Legislative Update

The NCUFC is a member of the NC Green Industry Council (NCGIC) and through that membership, we work with their legislative committee to stay informed on legislation that may affect our industry. The short session for the NC General Assembly is set to start on May 18th, just a few short weeks after ending their long session. The short session doesn't normally see the introduction of any new bills, however there are two bills we should all be keeping an eye on. HB 496 Property Owners' Rights/Tree Ordinances and SB 628 Native Plants Right to Work Act.

HB 496, as you might recall, is a bill we first started keeping an eye on in early 2021. This bill provides that local government (counties and towns) shall not adopt ordinances regulating trees on private property without the express authorization of the General Assembly. It has passed the House with a vote of 72-43 and is now in Senate Rules Committee, which is chaired by Senator Rabon, the representative for District 8 in Bladen, Brunswick, New Hanover, and Pender counties. If you are from District 8 or your representative serves on the Senate Rules Committee, now is the time to send an email or make a phone call with your concerns and questions. 

SB 628 may be a new one for you. If so, this bill would require the use of only native NC plants and seeds on state property and highways as well as local projects that use state funds for landscaping. The NC Urban Forest Council does support the use of native species, however this bill has some nuances that may lead to some big problems down the road (literally). The bill has already passed the Senate and it is poised to go before the House this summer during the short session. We are working with the NCGIC on possible edits and suggestion on ways to improve the bill. 

NATIONAL STORY

Photo courtesy: Penn State. Creative Commons

Interdisciplinary Research Team Receives IEE Grant for Urban Forest Research

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An interdisciplinary team led by Travis Flohr, assistant professor of landscape architecture in the Stuckeman School, was awarded a $30,000 through the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment (IEE) Seed Grant program to further the study of urban forests. 

The Stuckeman School is the largest academic unit in the College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State.

Titled "Connecting policies to actions for creating just, biodiverse, and climate-resilient urban forests,” the purpose of the project is threefold: to help rebuild urban forests and ecosystems that have been lost due the development of cities, to determine how to create climate-resilient forests and to fix the inequitable forest distribution in urban areas. The research will take place in Pittsburgh, which will be the pilot city for the study...... 

Link to the full story

Several U.S. cities, shown in yellow, may be hotspots for tree mortality from the invasive emerald ash borer beetle. The map also shows other locations in the insect’s path over the next 30 years. Dark blue areas have lower risk, while lighter blue and green areas may experience greater risks and costs. (Source: Hudgins et al. 2022 Figure 2d)

Urban Environments are Hotspots for Invasive Insects

About 82% of the U.S. population lives in urban areas, and that number is growing. People are drawn from near and far to cities for jobs, restaurants and entertainment. They also enjoy green spaces within a bustling cityscape. Parks, forests and tree-lined streets provide respite and recreation, places to pause and ponder. Trees in urban areas also benefit residents by lowering cooling costs and improving mental health outcomes.

“Frequent travel to and from cities means that trees in urban areas have high rates of exposure to invasive species like the emerald ash borer,” said Frank Koch, a USDA Forest Service research ecologist and co-author of a new study about the impacts of invasive insects on urban trees.

Link to the full story

Join or Renew Your Membership

Today!