Michelle Sutton
SMA Environmental Equity Themed Virtual Conference Nov 19 Open to All
The Society of Municipal Arborist Conference is virtual this year and on the theme of Environmental Equity; the cost is $50 for SMA Members and $145 for non-members. You can see the full conference program above or on the SMA website here.
Jamestown Community College Plants Sugar Maple to Celebrate 11 Years as Tree Campus USA
Cassadaga Honors Loss of Young Girl with Tree Planting, Celebrates First Year as Tree City USA
The Village of Cassadaga in Chautauqua County recently celebrated Arbor Day and dedicated a newly planted dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) to a seven-year-old Cassadaga girl, Emmaline A. Wilcox, tragically killed in a car accident last spring. Nate Murray (above left) from the Region 9 DEC Office attended the event and helped plant the dawn redwood tree. The Village also celebrated their first year as a Tree City USA.
Thank you to Lori Brockelbank for forwarding news and photos.
View Two “Creating Connections: Volunteers and Professionals” Webinars
The recent NYC ReLeaf two-part webinar series on Creating Connections: Volunteers and Professionals can still be viewed. Council Cofounder and Environmental Educator Nancy Wolf gave high marks to the series, noting, “I thought Maritza and Suzannah’s presentation [on Environmental Education in a Natural Setting] was simply the best I have ever seen/heard about how volunteers can be part of professional work in natural areas.”
- Virtual tour of Snug Harbor presented by Greg Lord – Director of Horticulture, Staten Island Botanical Garden
- NYC Soils presented by Rich Shaw – Retired, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Environmental education in a natural setting presented by Suzannah Abbate – Director of Education & Engagement, Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden and Maritza Cuevas – Director of Education, Greenbelt Conservancy
- Urban forests: A nexus of carbon, climate, and community – Andrew Reinmann – Assistant Professor, Environmental Sciences Initiative, CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, Hunter College
- Seeing the forest for the money trees (Play Fair) presented by Emily Walker – Director of Outreach and Programs, New Yorkers for Parks and Sarah Charlop-Powers -Executive Director and Co-Founder, Natural Areas Conservancy
- Virtual tour of the Greenbelt Native Plant Center presented by Nate McVay – Nursery Manager, Greenbelt Native Plant Center, NYC Parks
Successful Tree Planting, Rochester’s Urban El Camino Trail in DEC Conservationist Magazine
See the recent online edition of NYS Conservationist for interesting features, including one coauthored by DEC UCF staff Christina McLaughlin and Dan Gaidasz on “How to Plant a Tree Successfully.” There’s also a piece called “Strides through an Urban Trail” about Rochester’s El Camino: Butterhole-Seneca Park Trail, a multi-use pedestrian greenway that was adapted from an old railroad line. Other features treat environmental justice in NYS, planting for pollinators, dogs that detect invasive insects, monarch butterflies, the Tonawanda Wildlife Mgmt Area, and New York’s damselflies and dragonflies. Check out this superb publication.
“Fall Planting and a Deeper Look at ‘Fall Transplanting Hazards'” is Blog’s Most-Viewed Post
Fall planting season is underway, and many NY towns and cities are taking advantage of this season’s combination of still-warm soils with cooler air temps, which lends itself to success with fall planting of a variety of tree species in parks and along streets. Since the Council blog was launched in 2014, the most often viewed post (6323 views!) has been this one, about Fall Planting and a Deeper Look at “Fall Hazards.” We will do an update this winter, but the existing content remains solid and clearly has been of practical value to many folks. Check it out if you haven’t already!
Artist, Arborist, and Horticulturist Noreen Riordan
Noreen Riordan attended the Rochester ReLeaf Conference in 2018. She lives in Henrietta and serves a greater Rochester territory as an Arborist Representative for Bartlett Tree Experts. Her territory includes Greece, Henrietta, Irondequoit, Webster, and some of Penfield and Brighton. Noreen is an ISA-Certified Arborist and Certified Nursery and Landscape Professional who has extensive experience with, among other things, Emerald Ash Borer. Noreen’s love of plants is informed by being an artist and her art is informed by her love of plants; she has a BFA in Art and Photography from Syracuse University. Here’s Noreen in her own words.
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When I got my first house, I really went bananas for gardening and haven’t looked back. I find gardening so gratifying in the way it allows me to bring in birds, bees, and other wildlife with the habitats I create. I’m grateful to my mom and grandmother for passing down the gardening gene! I’m especially into birds, and as I worked for nurseries and my own landscaping company for many years, I got more interested in trees and how miraculous and important they are. If you’re into birds, you’re likely to be into trees.
I’m happy to say that both of my daughters, Molly and Emily, have gotten into birdwatching. We all have feeders, compare who visits them, and get jealous of each other’s birds. Eastern bluebirds are my favorite, but it’s my older daughter Molly who gets frequented by them. Meanwhile, I get all the chickadees, and my daughters are envious of that. It’s something fun to bond over.
I had a home-based business retouching photos when my kids were little and did that while I raised them. When digital photography came into dominance, I made the career change to nursery and landscaping jobs. It was very exciting and a lot more physically and intellectually demanding than I thought—and so vast! Soils, light needs, native vs. exotic, spacing—there was a lot to learn. Around 2000, I achieved the Certified Nursery and Landscape Professional (CNLP) credential, my ISA Arborist Certification and also became a NYSDEC Certified Pesticide Applicator.
Building & Maintaining Your Healthy Community Forest Webinar
This webinar is hosted by Southern Adirondack ReLeaf and is free and open to all.
10/28 9 AM Southern Adirondack ReLeaf – Building and maintaining your healthy community forest
Registration Link: https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/onstage/g.php?MTID=ecb9b4b40ae24efe4267132ebeea8cbce
Join NY ReLeaf for a webinar on building and maintaining your healthy community forest! Starting a new program or maintaining a fledgling program to care for your community trees on streets and in parks can be a challenge. Join us to learn about the steps to becoming a Tree City USA, the different kinds of awards, and the benefits of becoming a Tree City USA, how to find and apply for funding for your program, and a forest health update! The southern Adirondacks have had several notable outbreaks this year of invasive species that threaten trees – including Hemlock wooly adelgid and emerald ash borer. Preparing early to manage these threats can be key to keeping your community forest healthy! ISA and CNLP credits pending.
- Becoming a Tree City USA – Andréa Nieves, Education assistant and Tree City Coordinator, Urban Forestry Program, NYS DEC
- Finding and preparing for grants – Christina McLaughlin, Partnership coordinator, Urban Forestry Program, NYS DEC
- Forest health update – Rob Cole, Forester, Invasive species and forest health, NYS DEC
Watertown’s Black River Trail Expansion Capped by Fall Tree Planting
Thank you to Council Board Member and City of Watertown Planner Mike DeMarco for sharing this background and pics.
The third and final segment of the Black River Trail was completed in a joint effort between NYS Parks, City of Watertown, and NYS DOT. This project, 15 years in the making, originated as a rails-to-trails project that provided users an Adirondack-esque experience just one mile outside of the City limits.