Where Women Choose to Walk: Paths to Improving Cities and Nature Series Underway
Dr. Adrina Bardekjian and Liza Paqueo are fabulous speakers and facilitators.
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The monthly discussion series, âWhere Women Choose to Walk: Paths to improving cities and nature,â is open to everyone at no cost. Participants are from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds ranging from the global north and global south, working in various sectors of urban environment and natural resource management including: forestry (urban and rural), mining, watershed, disaster, conservation, eco-tourism, stewardship, and more.
Please join them on March 8th for their next episode of âWhere Women Choose to Walk: Paths to Improving Cities and Nature.â In celebration of International Womenâs Day, this discussion will focus on motherhood in all its glory and struggles; topics include work-life-family balance; careers and workplace policies for support; identity shifts and cultural contentions; raising environmentally-inspired children; and alternative livelihoods during the pandemic.
Urban Forestry Opportunities at Southern University Include Virtual Learning, Scholarships, and Degrees at the Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral Levels
The Urban Forestry Department at Southern University is based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but virtual and scholarship opportunities abound for folks from anywhere in the world. The 2021 BAYOU Summer Institute for high schoolers to explore careers in Urban Forestry will be virtual, and BAYOU is always free of charge for qualified applicants. In addition, scholarships are available for in-person pursuit of Bachelor degrees, and qualified applicants can obtain scholarships toward virtual pursuit of PhD degrees in Urban Forestry.
Southern University: Elevating Urban Forestry Education to New HeightsÂ
By Dr. Zhu Hua Ning, Department Chair, PhD Program Leader, and ANSWERS Institute Director, Southern University Department of Urban Forestry and Natural Resources
Photos Courtesy SU Urban Forestry & Natural Resources
The Department of Urban Forestry and Natural Resources at Southern University and A&M College (hereafter, SU) offers Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy degree programs that are fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. As such, our Departmentâs programs offer the most comprehensive urban forestry higher education in the United States.
SU established the first Bachelor of Science in Urban Forestry degree program in the nation in 1992 with support from the USDA Forest Service and the Louisiana Board of Regents. The Master of Science program in Urban Forestry was approved in 1998, and the Urban Forestry PhD degree program launched in 2004. Every year since 2003 when the award was received, our Department has received funds via the âDepartment of Excellence through Faculty Excellenceâ award by the Louisiana Board of Regents. In 2015, SU honored our department with the Most Productive Department award. Our faculty members are nationally and internationally award-winning experts who provide the highest quality education and training for our graduatesâand superb research to benefit our field at large.
Yale Forest Forum Webinar Series on The Promise and Practice of Community-Based Forestry
Click here to see the full roster of talks and to register
The Yale Forest Forum (YFF) has a free spring speaker series underway, hosted by The Forests Dialogue and the Urban Resources Initiative, on The Promise and Practice of Community-Based Forestry. Join the series every Thursday through April 29 from 11:30am-12:10pm ET. (Note that there will be no webinar on April 8.) YFF talks are free and open to the public.
This Thursday, February 18th, Yale School of the Environment URI GreenSkills Manager Caroline Scanlan presents on “A University Model for Clinical Urban Community Forestry Training.” You can read about Caroline’s work in her recently published paper in Arboriculture & Urban Forestry.
More about the series:
Community-based forestry intends to create pathways for local people to have decision-making control of forest management. The key strategy of community-based forestry is to equitably empower all local stakeholders through a long-term, landscape-based, and inclusive approach to supporting local communities to secure their land and resource rights, stop deforestation, find alternative livelihoods, and foster gender equity.
DEC Round 15 Urban & Community Forestry Grant Recipients
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced grant awards totaling $1.4 million for urban forestry projects across the state to help communities inventory, plant, and maintain public trees.
The 38 projects to receive funding were selected from a total of 154 applications, ranked by cost effectiveness, lasting benefits, use of partnerships, inclusion of outreach and education, and support from local stakeholders. The urban forestry grants complement DEC’s ongoing initiatives to address invasive species, climate change, environmental degradation, environmental justice, and urban sprawl. Over the last nine years, New York State has funded more than $11.4 million in grants to support projects with a total value of more than $18.3 million.
Grant recipients are listed by region.
CAPITAL REGION
Albany County
- City of Albany – $75,000; Tree Inventory
- City of Watervliet – $29,000; Tree Maintenance
Columbia County
- City of Hudson – $20,000; Tree Inventory and Management Plan
Schenectady County
- Town of Glenville – $20,000; Tree Inventory and Management Plan
- City of Schenectady – $61,200; Tree Inventory and Management Plan
REPOST: Online ISA Certified Arborist Training Starts Feb 22nd
Cornell Cooperative Extension – Dutchess County and CCE Putnam County have teamed up to bring you this online series preparing you for the ISA Certified Arborist Exam. Please see full details here
Not Yet a Tree City USA? Apply by Feb 26 for 2021 NYSUFC Quick Start Grant to Help You Get There
The NYS Urban Forestry Council is pleased to announce available funding for communities to hold a 2021 Arbor Day tree planting event and to establish a community-based forestry program. Communities can apply for up to $1,000. Funding has been provided by the USDA Forest Service. INFO AND BRIEF APPLICATION PACKET
Grant Goals:
The intent of this grant is to help municipalities establish a community forestry program and move toward becoming a Tree City USA Community. Tree City USA is a program of the Arbor Day Foundation. Please note that this Quick Start Grant is not associated with the Arbor Day Foundation nor is it part of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program funded by the NYS Environmental Protection Fund.
Eligibility:
Communities are eligible if they intend to work toward Tree City status but are lacking any of the components of the Tree City USA program. The four components include having a tree ordinance, a tree board, $2/capita budgeted for trees, and an annual Arbor Day celebration. Definitions and details of those components can be found on the Tree City USA website.
Eligible projects include:
⢠planting trees (see the recommended resources listed in this notice to facilitate tree species selections to support urban forestry species diversity)
⢠holding an Arbor Day ceremony (does not have to be on the official Arbor Day which is the last Friday in April – April 30th for 2021) but please plan for a spring event
Eligible expenses may include but are not limited to trees, mulch, soil, printing of a program, advertising to publicize the event.
Communities that are currently a Tree City USA or are a recipient of previous NYS Urban Forestry Council Arbor Day Community Grants are ineligible.
Applications are due (postmarked) by 5pm on February 26, 2021. đł
Conifers for Urban Use: Abies concolor, with Jean Zimmerman
Concolor Fir (Abies concolor)
By Jean Zimmerman, Council Board Member and Commercial Arborist for SavATree
Some might see the concolor fir or white fir (Abies concolor) only as the perfect holiday tree. The soft silvery needles, the graceful form, and perhaps more than anything its scent, redolent of tangerinesâall create a specimen that begs to be set up in a corner of the living room, bestrewn with decorations, with gaily wrapped gifts underneath. Weâve had one for many years during the holidays and it always brings pleasure.
At the cut-your-own tree farm we patronize, the saw-bearing hordes descend upon the generous grove of concolors, and a tree-toting worker told me it is in popularity second only to the fraser fir (A. fraseri). President of the New York State Urban Forestry Council Karen Emmerich of Emmerich Tree Farm said, âWe sold a lot of concolors last holiday season, and they have grown in popularity over the years. More and more growers are planting them. They donât have the disease issues that blue spruces have, and they have that lovely bluish tint to their needles. The upper branches donât shade the lower branches (causing them to develop that scraggly look) like the spruces. My husband Kurt calls them âugly ducklings,â because when they are young they are kind of goofy looking, but after five or six years they really start to look great.â
Now take a look beyond the holiday season. Concolor is a fir that can be enjoyed on your property spring, summer, and fall as well as when snow sparkles on the ground. In 1953, naturalist Donald Peattie recognized the beauty and adaptability of the concolor and predicted that its future âlies in its value as an ornamental.â Its conical shape, blueish silver color and ability to thrive even on harsh sites has made the tree a favorite for urban landscaping. Full sun is best for this tree, meaning it prefers a minimum of four hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day, but it can also do well in part shade. The treeâs preferred pH range is acidic to neutral on moist, well drained, loamy soils, and its hardiness range is Zone 3 to 7.
Sublime “Downtown Doors” Series Photo-Documents Staten Island Trees & Homes from 1940 to Today
One of my favorite urban forestry-related Instagram accounts belongs to John Kilcullen, an ISA Certified Arborist and Municipal Specialist and Director of NYC Parks-managed Conference House Park in Tottenville, Staten Island. In his free time, John prolifically and affectionately photographs the landscapes and architectural gems of the New York City borough of Staten Island, including its doors (hence the major theme of his Instagram, âDowntown Doors.â) This artistic focus of Johnâs will come as no surprise given that he is also the President of the Preservation League of Staten Island.
One sub-series within âDowntown Doorsâ is a phenomenal suite of posts that juxtapose pictures of homesâand the trees in front of themâfrom 1940 and from today. The historical images are tax photos from the NYC Records & Information Services Historical Records Department; they meet John at his nexus of interests perfectly, providing architectural documentation as well as evidence of trees that were small in the 1940s but that now are, in many cases, mature focal points of their own.