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Deadlines and Dates for upcoming events, awards, and grants!
Oregon Arbor Week is traditionally observed the first full week in April, this year it will be April 7-13, 2019.
National Arbor Day is April 26th, 2019.
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Registration open now!
2019 Oregon Annual Urban and Community
Forestry Conference
World Forestry Center
Portland, OR
June 6, 2019
To register for the conference, go HERE
Early Bird rates end April 26th.
(See article, right)
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PNW-ISA Chapter - Annual Training Conference
Theme: "Trees and the Triple Bottom Line"
Eugene, Oregon
October 6-9, 2019
Presenter proposals deadline April 12; for more information go
HERE
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Partners in Community Forestry Conference
Cleveland, Ohio
November 20-21, 2019
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Ongoing
PNW-ISA classes on tree care.
For upcoming classes go
HERE
Urban Forest Connections Webinar Series. USDA Forest Service Research (2nd Wednesdays of the month) - Info, registration, and class descriptions
HERE
Learn at Lunch Webinars
Utah State Extension
Info, registration, archive, and class descriptions
HERE
Tree Fund Webinars
Info, registration, archive, and class descriptions
HERE
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Helpful Links and Information
Article:
DeepRoot Blog, sponsored by the company of the same name, is an excellent compendium of articles and advice about trees.
DeepRoot Blog
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Kristin Ramstad
Urban & Community
Forestry Program Manager
503-945-7390
Katie Lompa
Community Assistance Forester
541- 480-3790
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Community Tree Connections (CTC) is a periodic publication by the Oregon Department of Forestry, Urban and Community Forestry Assistance Program. Our mission is to help Oregonians
improve their quality of life by promoting community investment in our urban forests. Subscriptions to this newsletter are free and available by contacting ODF. CTC is published in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service. The USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
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Hello Everybody!
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Flowers below trees look pretty but compete with tree roots for space and moisture! Photo: UCF library
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In this newsletter, we are focusing on the upcoming Annual Oregon Urban and Community Forestry
Conference on June 6th,
2019, at the World Forestry Center, in Portland, Oregon. The Early Bird Pricing
for the conference will last until
April 26th (National Arbor
Day
). This year we are also offering a small discount for people who live and work in Oregon Tree Cities USA (also until April 26th)!
To learn about what the conference has in store, Oregon Urban Forestry Award winners, Arbor Day Grant recipients, and Oregon's 2018 Tree City USAs, Tree Campus USAs, and Tree Line USA - keep reading!
Happy Spring!
Kristin Ramstad and Katie Lompa
Urban and Community Forestry Assistance Program
Oregon Department of Forestry
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You are invited to the
2019 Annual Oregon U&CF conference:
"Making Space for Trees - Designing Tree-Friendly Infrastructure for Oregon Communities."
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Large trees in skinny parking strips -- not a good combination!
Photo: UCF library
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The theme for this year's conference was derived from the feedback we received from last year's conference attendees. We asked:
What should we focus on 2019?
The majority of the interest centered on how to lessen the negative effects of urban
infrastru
cture
on trees. You spoke; we listened!
The Annual Oregon Urban and Community Forestry
Conference is hosted by Oregon Community Trees, the Oregon Department of Forestry, and the USDA Forest Service.
For this year's conference, presentation topics include:
- A keynote presentation on The Six Critical Requirements for Healthy Urban Trees (Howard Stenn)
- Parking Lot Trees- How Many Are Enough? (Anne Fenkner)
- Tree-friendly Infrastructure, Infrastructure-friendly Trees (Keith Warren)
- LIDA Facilities in Subdivisions - Making it All Work (Steve Adams, Kerry Rappold)
- Limitations along Rights-of-Way and Alternate Systems (Stuart Greenberger)
- Right tree right place - It's More than Just Looking Up (Robert Vanderhoof)
- Working with Design-Build Teams to Accommodate Trees (Scott Baker)
- Sandy Blvd Greenstreet - Creating Space for Trees (Steve Roeloff)
- Lightning Rounds that will include information about boring under trees, creating inclusive and equitable urban forests, and 2 Portland case studies. (Ruth Williams, Rudy Roquemore, and Rick Faber)
In keeping with the annual U&CF conference tradition, there will also be a post-conference Happy Hour!
In addition to the conference, Oregon Community Trees is hosting an informal pre-conference social in the evening prior to the conference! Come eat, have a drink (or not), and meet other conference participants, OCT Directors, and conference presenters! Please sign up (RSVP) to attend the social on the conference registration site; it will cost $20/head to cover food, drink, and venue costs. To register for the conference go
HERE.
(Note: You may register for the conference and the pre-conference social separately, but must login to EventBrite separately too.)
If you or your organization would like to become a sponsor of this conference, please indicate your interest to the conference chair here and someone will follow-up with you. The money raised from conference sponsors goes towards providing grants and educational urban forestry outreach to Oregon cities.
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Congratulations
to all Oregon Tree
City USAs
, Tree Campus USAs and Tree
Line
USA!
More Oregon cities become Tree City USAs (TCUSA) every year. Becoming recognized as a TCUSA entitles cities to a growing number of advantages including OCT's Arbor Day Boost grants, and discounted conference registration rates.
Recognized in 2019 for their efforts during
2018
, Oregon now has
66 TCUSAs, an increase of three since last year.
Additionally 10 cities went "above and beyond" the Four Standards in 2018 and earned Growth Awards. These were:
Beaverton, Corvallis, Cottage Grove, Eugene, Grants Pass, La Grande, Portland, Salem, Sweet Home, and Wilsonville.
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Grade Schoolers displaying Arbor Day art at aTualatin city council meeting. Photo: UCF library
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A community that earns 10 Growth Awards is recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation (ADF) as a
Sterling
Tree City USA. According to the ADF, "Sterling communities are regarded as leaders in community forestry and are often looked upon as innovators." Oregon currently has 11 cities with this designation, with La Grande being a
Double Sterlin
g TCUSA, i.e., more than 20 years of earning Growth Awards! These cities are: La Grande and Portland (2001), Echo (2004), Tualatin (2005), Medford (2009), Beaverton (2013), Eugene (2014), Lebanon (2012), and Salem (2015). This year we add Corvallis and Wilsonville to this prestigious list of Oregon's Sterling Tree Cities USA.
Also this spring, 15 communities will be celebrating
"benchmark" years at TCUSAs -- the first year or a five-year increment anniversary.
Albany (25), Bandon (10), Beaverton (25), Coos Bay (25), Cottage Grove (25), Echo (30), Eugene (40), Happy Valley (15), Hillsboro (1), Lake Oswego (30), Philomath (25), Stanfield (5), Toledo (25), Umatilla (1), Veneta (10).
In addition, Oregon now has seven
Tree Campus USAs, with the newest campus being Corban College (near Salem). Corban College joins
Oregon State University,
Southern Oregon University,
Eastern Oregon University,
Portland State University,
Western Oregon University,
Portland Community College.
PacifiCorp
remains Oregon's sole Tree Line USA, and has been a generous sponsor of the Annual U&CF conference, and long-time partner with ODF's Urban and Community Forestry Assistance Program.
If your city is interested in becoming a
Tree City USA in 2019, contact
Katie Lompa at your earliest convenience.
Tree Campus USA and
Tree Line USA inquiries should be directed to
Kristin Ramstad.
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Oregon Community Trees gives Arbor Day Boost Grants to Eight Oregon Tree Cities USA
- excerpted from an article by J. Gersbach, ODF
The non-profit Oregon Community Trees has awarded grants to eight cities across Oregon to help them hold Arbor Week events in April. Recipients of this year's grants are Ashland, Bend, Coburg, Corvallis, Cottage Grove, Echo, McMinnville and Monmouth. All eight have earned the Tree City USA title, reflecting their commitment to protecting and promoting urban trees to benefit their residents.
Communities plan to the use the grants in various ways. Ashland, Bend, Coburg, Cottage Grove and McMinnville have scheduled tree plantin
gs. Pl
antings will involve community volunteers and students from elementary through high school.
Cottage Grove's plantings will both celebrate its 25th anniversary as a Tree City USA as well as kick off its citywide street tree inventory.
"We hope to draw attention to the inventory project as an important tool for then reviewing our list of approved street trees," said Cottage Grove Tree Board Member Eric Mongan. "The goal is to be better prepared for the arrival of tree-killing diseases and pests, such as emerald ash borer."
Children in the northeast Oregon town of Echo will participate in tree-related activities, such as readings from books about trees and a
poster
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| Spring-time tree planting scene.Photo: UCF library |
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contest. Echo is marking 30 years as a Tree City USA this spring.
Corvallis will use its grant to hold thank-you celebrations for the Parks and Recreation's corps of Neighborhood Tree Steward volunteers. The Corvallis volunteers just wrapped up a successful season, planting a record-breaking 167 trees in Corvallis parks, open space
s and along city rights of way.
Grants Committee Chair Morgan Holen of Oregon Community Trees says the non-profit organization promotes healthy urban and community forests. "We assist community groups, local governments and schools throughout the state with expertise and grants that support leadership, education, awareness and advocacy for urban and community forestry."
Holen said the organization gave a combined total of close to more than $3,600 in grants this year, the largest amount in its history. One criteria for receiving an Arbor Week grant is being a Tree City USA for at least a year.
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2019 Oregon Urban and Community
Forestry
Awards Announced!
F
or over 20 years, Oregon Community Trees and the Oregon Department of Forestry have recognized people and organizations who do the
often "unsung" work of improving our communities through their community forestry efforts. Award recipients are nominated by Oregonians eager to recognize the important contributions of their neighbors and coll
eagues to urban trees and forests.
In celebration of Oregon's urban & community forests, the 2019 Oregon Urban and Community Forestry Awards are being presented to inspirational individuals and organizations for promoting tree planting and care, engaging citizens, raising awareness about urban trees and forests, and protecting Oregon's forests.
Individual Award - Kerry Rappold
is the Natural Resources Program Manager for the City of Wilsonville. Kerry has a passion for natural resources and a friendly disposition that helps to engage citizens. Alon
g with several other projects and leadership roles, Kerry has restored many acres of land in the community by planting tree groves and developing pollinator habitat (in partnership with Friends of Trees), worked with farmers and their goats to abate invasives, and has been instrumental in creating passages for wildlife in the community as part of Wilsonville's Capital Project work.
Individual Award- Chris John
is the Owner of Canopy LLC. He is also the chair of Ashland's Tree Commission, where he works hard to preserve urban trees and educate the public to the value of trees. He displays the highest moral and ethical decision making in his care of trees. This past winter during the Ashland festival of lights, Chris and his company donated a native conifer to each Ashland resident who promised to plant it -- for a total 300 trees.
Organization Award - The Willamette Valley Ponderosa Pine Conservation Association is
a group of Oregonians concerned about the fate of the subspecies of ponderosa pine native to the Willamette Valley. Their work has since saved all the major genetic subpopulations in seed banks or as living trees near St. Paul, Ore. The rapid increase in harvest during the early to mid-1990s pointed to the potential loss of Willamette Valley ponderosa pine's genetic base. With the difficulties in finding local source seedlings and the accelerated harvest of mature pin, the Willamette Valley Ponderosa Pine Conservation Association was formally organized in 1997 to conserve the valley ponderosa pine's genetic base to supply pine seedling from hig
h quality local trees.
President's Award - Diane Berry
is the city administrator for Echo, Oregon. She is receiving this award for her stellar work promoting, advocating and
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Echo, Oregon Photo: UCF library |
maintaining the City of Echo's (Pop. 715) urban and community forest. As the soon-to-be retiring, long-time city administrator, Diane has been instrumental in the city receiving numerous awards. Diane has pursued many urban forestry promotions and projects over the years, including the creation of a city arboretum. Established in 1993, the Oregon Trail Arboretum features over 100 ornamental trees and shrubs. Diane has inspired citizens, promoted city-wide tree planting and quality tree care, and has raised awareness of the importance of the urban forest to the quality of life in Echo and nearby cities.
Oregon's Tree City of the Year - Corvallis
has been a Tree City USA from 2001 - 2018 (18 years).
This year the City will receive their 10th Tree City USA Growth Award and is now recognized as a Sterling Tree City USA. The city urban forestry program has an urban forest management plan, tree inventory, a professionally-trained UF staff, a tree board, an approved planting list, a comprehensive, easy to find website,
and a Neighborhood Tree Steward program. The "Tree For A Fee" Program for Street Trees within City Rights-of-Way, allows applicants to enter into an agreement with the City wherein they pay the City to plant street trees required under the Land Development Code on their behalf and maintain the trees for three years. To visit the city's website, take a look
HERE
.
Congratulations and Thanks to all Award Winners for the work you do to improve Oregon's urban and community forests!
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Your "Click of Trees" *
Your "reward" for reading all the way down... a link to an interesting tree feature(s) on the web.
- This New York Times article seems particularly apropos given the 2019 U&CF Conference theme: Goodbye Sidewalk Trees
*Credit to OPB's online newsletter and "Click of Zen" feature.
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