Please join Brian’s wide circle of friends, family, and colleagues for this tree planting in his honor. At this time we don’t know if Brian will be able to be present.
Blog
A Tribute to Our Friend Pat Tobin
Beloved Council Past President (2006-2009) and longtime Council stalwart friend Pat Tobin died unexpectedly on September 1, 2018 in her home in Fayetteville. Pat was born and raised in the Eastwood neighborhood of Syracuse, graduating from Eastwood High School and continued her education, receiving a BA from Syracuse University. She remained a lifelong SU sports fan, cheering the football team on her last evening!
Pat spent 40 years at Niagara Mohawk as an IT programmer. After her retirement, Pat became a super-volunteer, helping out with numerous causes, most especially the urban forest by way of the Council and the Fayetteville Tree Commission. Pat was also an active member of Immaculate Conception Church in Fayetteville.
Trees for Parks: Fall Fiesta Sugar Maple
The Fall Fiesta sugar maple (Acer saccharum ‘Bailsta’) is a patented cultivar selected in 1987 from a group of seedlings at Bailey Nurseries in Yamhill, Oregon. It was chosen because of its vigorous growth rate; upright, symmetrical form; and leathery leaves that are resistant to scorch and tatter caused by droughty or windy conditions, respectively.
Fall Fiesta is an excellent shade tree with a dense, rounded crown; it maintains its shape and requires little pruning. Its fall color may consist of more oranges and reds than other sugar maple varieties, and it exhibits excellent winter hardiness, from USDA Zones 3 to 8. Healthy trees don’t have significant pest or disease problems.
Your September TAKING ROOT is Here
Your September TAKING ROOT is Here!
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Saying Goodbye to the Council’s Beloved Pat Tobin
Longtime Council stalwart and unfailingly kind and gentle Pat Tobin died peacefully in her sleep at her home in Fayetteville on Saturday, September 1, 2018.
“Although she had some health issues, her death did come as a shock to the family. We wanted to reach out to the NYSUFC as soon as possible, because we know she was a great friend and mentor to so many in your organization. As you know, she took great joy in her work. We her family relished hearing all the latest ‘tree news’ and were so proud of her accomplishments both with the local tree commission and with your organization. Pat is survived by her brother Leo and sister-in-law Kathy Tobin of Canastota, and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, and, of course, friends.” –Regina Plunkett Dowling (wife of Pat’s nephew Sean Dowling)
We would like to do a tribute to Pat on the blog. To that end, kindly send your remembrances, pictures, and anecdotes to editor Michelle Sutton at editor@nysufc.org. Thank you.
Here are the details for Pat Tobin’s services.
Saturday, September 8, 2018
8:30-9:45am Wake
10:00-11:00am Funeral Mass (followed by burial at St Mary’s Cemetery)
Immaculate Conception Church, 400 Salt Springs Rd, Fayetteville, NY
Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Schepp Family Funeral Home.
Gloversville’s Arbor Day Tree Planting Boosted by Council Grant & Donations
Gloversville, New York, located in Fulton County halfway between Albany and Utica, was a recipient of a 2018 NYSUFC Arbor Day Grant. These grants are meant to kick-start community and urban forestry programs. Over the course of three events held in April, May, and June, 2018, the Gloversville Housing and Neighborhood Improvement Corporation (GHNIC) planted twelve trees in celebration of Arbor Day. Through these events, more than two dozen community members were involved, the public learned more about urban forestry through four stories in local newspapers, and community members expressed interest in forming an urban forestry committee.
Since originally applying for the $1000 grant, the City’s tree planting project underwent two significant shifts. The first was a shift in location. Though they had originally sought to plant trees along land-banked parcels, GHNIC folks later decided that planting trees in the “asphalt desert” that surrounds the Gloversville Farmers Market Pavilion in the heart of downtown was a better way to showcase the benefits of trees in a highly visible part of the city.
Freeville’s First-Ever Arbor Day Planting Event
Freeville Village Planning Board and Tree Committee Member Tom Cavataio provided this report on Freeville’s first-ever Arbor Day planting with the help of a $1000 NYSUFC grant. Freeville (pop. ~ 520) is located in Tompkins County, east of Ithaca.
The newly formed Freeville Tree Committee held a successful Arbor Day tree planting event on May 12, 2018 with the planting of a swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor) at the Village of Freeville’s Groton Ave Park. The tree was donated to the program by Paul Paradine, a local NYSEG employee and new member of our tree committee.
A great deal of committee activity preceded the event, with signage being created, announcements in the local papers and at the local elementary school, and a last-minute decision on a one-hour delay the morning of the event (the forecast was for rain, but we were still able to carry off the event by delaying it for an hour).
Cornell Urban Horticulture Institute Team Evaluates Condition of National Mall Elms
In April 2018, the Cornell Urban Horticulture Institute team of Nina Bassuk, Bryan Denig, Yoshiki Harada, and Barbara Neal released an extensive report on the elms (including American elms) of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The report details a study conducted at the request of the National Park Service to examine the current conditions of the trees and soils on the tree panels of the National Mall, and it includes a fascinating history of the landscape. Here are some highlights from the report.
The National Mall elm trees are an important planting in the monumental core, yet they face several challenges. The soils of the tree panels are very compacted, most likely due to the constant pedestrian use and the numerous large organized events that take place on the Mall. Unevenness in the size and distribution of the tree canopy has resulted from decades of mortality (often due to Dutch Elm Disease) and the planting of certain elm varieties with growth forms that are seen as incompatible with the planting as a whole.
From June 17–20, 2017, the research team conducted a tree inventory and collected soil data and samples for later analysis. In addition, in November 2017, ground penetrating radar done by Council member Gary Raffel was used to document root growth for seventeen of the trees. This report deals with the current tree and soil conditions, while management recommendations are in a separate report to be released in late 2018 or early 2019.
Board Member Danielle Gift on ReLeaf 2018 & Her New Position
Danielle Gift received a scholarship from the New York City/Region 2 ReLeaf Committee, of which she is an active member, to pay for ReLeaf registration and lodging. Get involved with your region’s ReLeaf Committee!
Danielle Gift:
“This year’s Annual New York ReLeaf Conference was one of my favorites to date! The Region 8 committee did a fantastic job of providing a great mix of workshops and field tours on a variety of topics, and all of the speakers were incredible engaging and knowledgeable.
At NYC Parks I’ve recently transitioned from Manager of Special Urban Forestry Projects to Tree Preservation Senior Project Manager. Although many of my special projects came with me to this new position, I now have a stronger focus on tree presentation, and this conference had something important and applicable in each session. It was exciting for me to see these workshops through a different lens—the tree preservation lens. With that in mind, there were three highlights for me: the Keynote on New York Tree Law, the picnic at Olmsted-designed Genesee Valley Park, and the Saturday Service Project, which focused on a Trees for Tribs restoration site in an area hit hard by Emerald Ash Borer (EAB).