Some of the attendees of the ReLeaf Region 3’s December 2022 meeting at Lasdon Arboretum in Katonah (Westchester County), enjoying a crisp and sunny early winter day. Photo by Christina McLaughlin

Thank you to NY ReLeaf Region 3 Co-chairs Jean Zimmerman and George Profous for supplying photos and info for this post.

ReLeaf Region 3’s December 2, 2022 meeting at Lasdon Arboretum in Katonah (Westchester County) was a great success.

The 35 attendees hailed from all over the Hudson Valley, including municipalities as disparate as the City of Mount Vernon, the City of New Rochelle, Mt. Kisco, Peekskill, Bedford, Hastings-on-Hudson, Newburgh, Pound Ridge, North Salem, and the City of Schenectady, to name just some.

Indoor sessions for the workshop were held in the naturally-lit utility hangar for Ladson Arboretum. Photo by Christina McLaughlin

Among the attendees were tree board members, community volunteers, conservation advisory committee chairs, gardeners, urban planners, sustainability coordinators, and representatives of the national sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha.

Dan Gaidasz and Christina McLaughlin of DEC traveled south from Albany for the confab, which was organized by Region 3 Co-chairs DEC Forester George Profous and consulting arborist/author Jean Zimmerman.

DEC Senior Forester George Profous (left) and New Rochelle Sustainability Coordinator Nick Sioufas. Photo by Jean Zimmerman

All were passionate about trees and invested in the topic under discussion: “Urban Foresters/Municipal Arborists: Has Their Time Come?”

The meeting convened in the utility hangar of Lasdon Arboretum in Katonah, where coffee and goodies from Riviera Bakeshop in Ardsley were served. A rousing discussion was followed by a tour led by Jessica Schuler, program coordinator for natural resources for the Lasdon Park Arboretum and Veterans Memorial.

Horticulturist at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture Laura Perkins attended the ReLeaf event. Photo by Jean Zimmerman

Jessica briefed the group on several Lasdon Park initiatives. First, an experimental American chestnut grove planted in the 1990s with the aim of helping to restore the population in U.S. forests. Second, a swath of land which will host 200 white oak (Quercus alba) and chestnut oak (Q. prinus) trees from acorns harvested from populations along the Eastern Seaboard. Third, Lasdon’s Famous and Historic Tree Trail, featuring specimens which are “direct descendants of trees having historical significance from all over the United States.”

Jessica Schuler, program coordinator for natural resources for the Lasdon Park Arboretum and Veterans Memorial. Photo by Jean Zimmerman

The conversation under clear blue December skies ran to deer protection, jumping worms, woolly adelgid infestation, hemlock decline, and which trees are more adaptive to climate change.

City of Mount Vernon, NY Deputy City Clerk Donna Jackson attended the ReLeaf event. Photo by Jean Zimmerman

DEC Senior Forester George Profous presented on, “A Sustainable City-Is it Time to Hire an Urban Forester?” and walked through the considerations, including ways of funding these positions.

View across Lasdon Park’s Monarch Meadow. Photo by Jean Zimmerman

The meeting was videotaped for those who were not able to attend and a link will be made available soon.

A perfectly themed baked good from Riviera Bakehouse in Ardsley, NY. Photo by Jean Zimmerman