John Suggg is the Company Principal, Founder and Consulting Arborist of Treefull Communities LLC, an arboricultural consulting firm located in Wilson, NC. He serves government agencies, businesses and residential clients in North Carolina and Southern Virginia. John provides a list of services which include tree and plant inventories, municipal ordinance development assistance, hazard tree assessment, and much more.

A member of the NC Urban Forest Council since 1996, John has enjoyed the vast networking opportunities for sharing professional ideas, which in turn promote and expand sustainable urban and community forests throughout NC. His favorite tip for someone in his industry is: "Marketing the urban forest is a matter of convincing people that the cause of community forests meshes with their cause, their concerns and their vision for the community. It is a matter of persuading them either to take action or support the actions of others. When this is realized.... your urban or community forestry program will be well on its way to maturity."

John Sugg received the 2016 NCUFC Outstanding Professional Award for his dedication to arboriculture and urban forestry in NC. John can be reached through the Treefull Communities website at http://treefullcommunities.com/

Is there a conference or training event coming up that you really want to attend, but can't afford? Current NC Urban Forest Council members qualify for our Education Scholarship program which helps cover some of the costs associated with attending an educational event (ie. registration or travel). Don't miss out on this opportunity. Scholarship funds can be requested to attend a professional workshop, conference or trade show. Although they are virtual, there are a few coming up this fall that would qualify, including the Partners in Community Forestry Conference, ISA Annual Conference, SAF Convention and Conference, Certified Arborist Prep Courses, and TRAQ. If there is another training opportunity related to arboriculture or urban forestry not listed, they may qualify as well. You must be a current Council member of the NC Urban Forest Council to receive a scholarship. If you are interested, please fill out the application and send to Leslie Moorman (ncufc1@gmail.com). The education scholarship committee will review each application and approve qualifying requests as long as funding is available.

Ideally, tree canopy will be distributed throughout a municipality, not just concentrated in parks or suburban areas. An essential tool for making that happen as development proceeds is a Tree Ordinance, which will usually address tree preservation in new development sites as well as tree planting.

There are many constituents who must interact with a tree ordinance and its outcomes, including the developers who must include it in their plans and costs, the municipal employees who must enforce it during and after construction, the property owners who must maintain it, and the citizens who will live with its results. Developing a tree ordinance should be an undertaking that involves representatives from all of these groups. The process can be one of many compromises in order to accommodate the concerns of everyone.

To address the many variables that can arise on a site, some flexibility should be built into the ordinance. Many municipalities base the quantity of trees to be preserved on a percent property size, with larger parcels requiring a larger percentage in tree preservation. Flexibility may take the form of allowances for some part of the required area to be provided in new trees planted rather than saved; reduced parking requirements to accommodate saved trees; credit for landscaping for trees saved in buffer yards; or payment-in-lieu for a portion of the requirements, paid into a fund to provide tree planting services in the municipality. READ MORE HERE...

On September 1 the Arbor Day Foundation opened their on-line application portals for the Tree City USA, Tree Campus Higher Education, and Tree Line USA programs. Communities, campuses, and utilities may now begin their applications for 2020 recognition (2021 for Tree Line USA). Due to COVID-19 restrictions on large gatherings, Arbor Day Foundation is waiving the requirement for meeting the Arbor Day observance standard for all programs. That means, if you had to cancel or postpone your Arbor Day celebration, you are not required to submit documentation of an observance for this year. For Tree City USA communities, this also applies to the Arbor Day proclamation. The application portals will still accept documentation but it is not required this year. To aid new and recertifying communities, campuses, and utilities with submitting appropriate documentation, the NCFS Urban & Community Forestry Program has developed a series of application checklists available for download at: https://www.ncforestservice.gov/Urban/tcusa_application_process.htm. All applications are due by December 1, 2020.

For assistance in meeting the requirements of the Tree City USA, Tree Campus Higher Education, or Tree Line USA programs, contact your local county ranger: https://www.ncforestservice.gov/contacts/contacts_main.htm. For assistance with the application process, contact Mandy Tallman Marty at mandy.tallman.marty@ncagr.gov or Jennifer Rall at jennifer.rall@ncagr.gov.

Jennifer Rall

Urban Fotrestry Sepcialist

NC Forest Service

The Southern Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture needs your assistance. The Chapter has developed a survey to collect valuable feedback needed to complete its Strategic Plan. Please use the link provided here: ISA SOUTHERN SURVEY