Michelle Sutton 
This month NYSDEC Urban & Community Forestry Partnerships Coordinator Christina McLaughlin is filming UCF Program Technical Coordinator Dan Gaidasz for several Tree Check Month videos through FB Live. But you can watch them anytime! This video about Undoing the Damage Caused by Mulch Volcanos is available on the NYSDEC FB page as will be the next two videos, when Dan covers Tree Cavities and Managing Climbing Vines.
You might wonder how it’s possible to become involved in any extracurricular activity when you have a 21-22 credit course load and 8 hours of classes a day followed by homework for the rest of the evening. I wondered the same thing when I joined the SUNY ESF Woodsmen Team during the first semester of Ranger School.
I was very conflicted to end my time at Onondaga Earth Corps (OEC), but moving forward was the right decision for me. My last working for OEC … sometimes when it is a last week of a job or an experience, it can go by in the blink an eye and leave you breathless wondering, where did the time go? Or, it can go on forever, dragging day by day through each of the motions until finally it’s over.
This week was not like either of those instances. It was not too fast or too slow; everything happened in its own time and pace. I spent the majority of the week pruning trees and getting caught in multiple much-needed scattered thunderstorms.
My last day had to have been the most bittersweet. OEC Founder Eli MacDonald made the most beautiful and delicious cheesecake–it was an honor to get to try this specialty of his! I spent half the day at the Rahma Edible Forest Snack Garden, which is part of the Rahma Health Clinic in Syracuase. This clinic provides free healthcare services offered by doctors who volunteer, often on weekends.
Chestnut Chat: American Chestnut Restoration and Reintroduction Plantings
Friday, August 7 at 11:30AM (EDT)
Urban Forestry and Covid in 2020 Forum from Chicago Region Trees Initiative
August 17, 1-3 p.m.
Learn how other community forestry programs are being affected by and overcoming challenges of Covid-19. You’ll hear about resources and opportunites to make the best of a tough year, inlcuding information of advocacy, grants, and creative solutions. ISA CEUs pending. Forum is free and open to all, but registration is required.
A second webinar (Urban Forestry and Covid in 2021) on planning ahead for stretching budgets and expanding resources in 2021 will be held on December 3, 1-3 p.m. More details to come.
Register in advance for this meeting here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Deadline to Apply is 09/14/20
The NYS Urban Forestry Council is pleased to announce grants for communities to plant large specimen trees or a grove of trees in a prominent location within the community. Full Details, Application, and Contact Info
Communities in New York State that have been a Tree City USA for at least the past five years can apply for up to $1,000. Funding has been provided by the New York State Urban Forestry Council.
Grant Goals
The intent of this grant is to encourage municipalities to sustain their community forestry program and maintain their status as a Tree City USA Community through a celebratory tree planting.
An article by USDA Forest Service research scientists Michelle Kondo and colleagues in the journal Lancet Planetary Health created a global buzz in reporting results of a new citywide health impact assessment of achieving a 30% canopy cover goal in the City of Philadelphia. If done at a neighborhood scale it would cut heat-related illness and reduce premature deaths by 403 residents, including 244 in areas of lower socioeconomic status (95% confidence).
The study conclusion is that urban greening programs can be a means to improve public health, decrease health inequalities, and promote environmental justice. To quickly see canopy cover rates and socio-economic status in your community, visit i-Tree Landscape and enter your zip code or community name, or better yet, complete your own Urban Tree Canopy Assessment.
Excerpted from a July 21, 2020 eBird article by Kathi Borgmann, “Larger urban green spaces support more bird species in New York City”
In a study out this week in Landscape and Urban Planning, Frank La Sorte, a research associate at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and colleagues wanted to find out what aspects of green spaces support the greatest number of bird species throughout the year.
To their surprise the shape of the green space didn’t change how many bird species were present during the year nor did the distance between green spaces. What mattered most was the size of the green space. Larger green spaces supported a greater number of species year-round. Green spaces with more tree cover also supported more songbird species that migrate at night in the spring.
So what does this mean for urban planners in NYC? “If you want to support birds in urban green spaces,” says La Sorte, “you should make them larger and plant more trees.”
