This newsletter is sent electronically (via email or fax)around the first of each month to state urban forestry program coordinators and Forest Service urban forestry staff. Please print or copy this newsletter and distribute it to volunteer coordinators, state council chairs, and other interested individuals within your state. You can always find it on-line at www.treelink.org

Submissions to this newsletter are welcomed, and in fact, requested. Items suitable for inclusion are regional and national urban forestry information, state events, products, or innovations that can be replicated by other states, personnel notes, and notices of regional and national urban forestry events. Please submit a maximum of two paragraphs by the 28th of the month for inclusion in the following month's edition.

NEXT DUE DATE FOR SUBMISSION: December 28, 2000

Compiled and Edited by:

Paula Rosenthal, Montana Dept. of Natural Resources
(prosenthal@state.mt.us) phone 406/542-4284

Phillip D. Rodbell, USDA Forest Service - Northeastern Area
(prodbell@fs.fed.us) phone (610) 975-4133

Special Thanks to: Patrice Carroll, USDA Forest Service

Quote: "…trees, parks, gardens and open spaces are more than urban ornaments or aesthetic pleasures. They are a part of our national infrastructure -- just like roads, bridges and ports - delivering critical social, economic and environmental benefits."

--U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman
At Ecological Cities conference, Boston, MA, Nov. 10

FRED DENEKE MOVES ON

After nearly 21 years in service to the national urban and community forestry movement, Dr. Fred Deneke has accepted a transfer assignment to the University of Arizona. There he will teach and apply many of his skills at the regional level of the Forest Service. In his departing message to the UCF community, he urged us to "get back to the basics of urban and community forestry" with an emphasis on "working more aggressively in cities and metropolitan areas." Finally, he cautioned us "to use our funds sparingly in the actual purchase and planting of trees" and only as a demonstration or a catalyst for appropriate local spending. Fred can be reached at fdeneke@fs.fed.us and via The School of Renewable Natural Resources, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721.

NEW DEPUTY CHIEF FOR STATE AND PRIVATE FORESTRY

Michael T. Rains has accepted the appointment as Forest Service Deputy Chief for State and Private Forestry in Washington, DC. The State and Private Forestry area includes Urban and Community Forestry and other cooperative programs like Stewardship, Legacy, Forest Health and Fire. Michael will lead the division at a critical time, what he calls "the Golden Age" for the programs, where congress and the public are increasingly aware of and value the services provided through State agencies and other partners. In speaking privately with the Federal team of urban foresters last week, Michael expressed his continued dedication to Urban and Community Forestry. Previously, as Director for the Forest Service Northeastern Area, Michael proved himself to be a tremendous booster of the program, focusing resources and attracting key congressional support that was instrumental in growing the national program from $20 million to its current $31 million. At that meeting, he shared his desire to grow the program to $68 million over the next few years. With his endorsement, the National Association of State Foresters approved a target of $57 million for the program in FY 2002.

ALLOCATIONS FAST AND FURIOUS

The Forest Service is working to finalize its allocation of Federal funds to its 10 regions this month. The funding will include base funds to State partners, targeted funds for inner-city initiatives, and a new pot of Title VIII funding for metropolitan areas with populations greater than 250,000. The methods for distributing the targeted funds were approved by the State Foresters last week at their executive meeting. Regions will be initiating an open and competitive process for distributing the Title VIII funds, authorized by Congress in place of the well publicized Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA). The intent is to fund high-visibility projects that have State, city and congressional letters of support, with the hopes of sustaining or increasing the Title VIII special appropriation in years to come. For more information, contact your Forest Service regional urban forestry coordinator.

NEW NUCFAC APPOINTMENTS

USDA Secretary Glickman has appointed four members to the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council. The following members were reappointed for a second term: John Ball, Associate Professor of Forestry, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD; Dan DeWald, Natural Resources Manager, Parks and Community Services, City of Bellevue, Bellevue, WA; and Deborah Gangloff, Executive Director, American Forests. Deborah Gangloff will continue to serve as Chair of the Council. The new member appointed to the Council is Elizabeth Kinch, Community Activist, Derby Community Foundation, Derby, KS. The members begin their terms on January 1, 2001. Contact: Suzanne M. del Villar at delvr@lodelink.com or (209) 536-9201.

NATIONAL AD CAMPAIGN

NUCFAC is asking for the opinions of the federal/state coordinators about a proposed national U&CF ad campaign. This national ad campaign is the "Got Milk" variety. It will contain a "catchy" slogan with local customizable pieces. The idea is this: ads will have the "tag line" and logo that will appear in national magazines. These national ads or PSAs will allow for local contact information that will then connect the national ad back to a state/local program. The states could then point to the national ads and show that they are the local partners.

Questions - Have any of the states already ventured into a communications strategy or ad campaign such as this? Has anyone tested public messages? Are the states generally in favor of such a campaign? Funding for this ad campaign does not in any way come off the top or reduce states funding. The plan is to involve and get the opinions of the states, and to clearly link the national ad to the local efforts. Your opinions and suggestions are welcomed.

Teresa Trueman-Madriaga, Kaulunani Urban Forestry Program ttm@hawaii.rr.com

WINNERS OF 2001 BUILDING WITH TREES AWARDS

Conservation-minded builders and developers around the country have been named to receive 2001 Awards of Excellence in the Building With Trees Recognition program. The program, created in 1998 by the National Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of Home Builders, recognizes builders and developers who save trees during construction and land development. Listed below are this year's elections of three Awards of Excellence and fifteen Pledge Participants.

Residential 26-100 lots
• Kelly Woods, Residential Development Group, LLC, Crystal Lake, Illinois

Residential 501 or more lots
• Silver Creek Valley Country Club, Shea Homes-Northern California, San Jose, CA

Special Award
• Pinehurst Place Taylor-Morley Homes, St. Louis, Missouri

AMERICAN VOTERS' VIEWS ON LAND USE AND PLANNING

A program at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, provided highlights of some of the more interesting results of a recent American Planners Association (APA) poll and included panels that addressed the "millennium message to the new Administration," how best to work with the media to inform the public, and implications for communities in the future.

Overall the poll showed that the majority of American voters want better communities and support stronger laws - at both the local and federal levels - to ensure a high quality of life in our cities, towns and suburbs. The poll showed broad support for a Federal Smart Growth Agenda, with 78% wanting Congress to provide tools and resources to help communities solve problems associated with urban growth and issues involving land use. A majority (53%) favor new laws to manage growth at the local level and 55% favor legislation to contain land-use or urban growth.

The poll also found that, when it comes to issues planners could effectively address, having adequate schools and educational facilities is the highest-ranking concern of voters (76%). Ensuring an ample availability of healthcare facilities, family support services, and police ranked second (74%), while the creation and protection of parks and recreation areas ranked third (69%). Nearly the same number of voters (67%) ranked the preservation of farmland and open space as a priority and 65% supported the protection of wetlands and other natural areas. For more information, contact: Peggy Harwood, 202-205-0877 or pharwood@fs.fed.us.

AWARD WINNING PARTNERSHIP

As one of 1600 applicants nationwide, Partnerships for Parks in New York City was selected as the winner of the Year 2000 Innovations in American Government Award. The Innovations Award is a prestigious public service award funded by the Ford Foundation and administered by the JFK School of Government at Harvard University, providing $100,000 in grant funding to the selected winner. Funded partially by a Forest Service grant, Partnerships for Parks was honored for developing a broad-based, committed constituency for parks throughout New York City. David Gergen, Chair of the National Selection Committee and editor-at-large for the U.S. News and World Report, commented on the necessity and power behind Partnerships: "This is something that is meaningful in the lives of a lot of people and is helping to create a sense of community. We found that this program had a certain charm to it that was attracting all sorts of people back into parks to support them." For more information, contact Abby Feinstein at 718.430.1846 or rivergirl@parks.nyc.gov.

POLL FINDINGS SHOW PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR URBAN REINVESTMENT

The U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Mortgage Bankers Association of America announced a five-point plan to encourage city reinvestment at the same time they released a nationwide poll that found city and suburban residents alike support tax dollars being spent to revitalize central cities. The Council released the poll as part of a report, 'The Changing Realities of Cities'. Major findings of the poll include:

• The overwhelming majority of Americans polled (67%) favor rebuilding cities and relying more on public transportation as the most effective way to solve traffic congestion and lessen sprawl.
  
  
• City dwellers and suburban residents are in agreement on many issues related to sprawl, housing affordability and public transportation. For example, 68% of city residents and 66% of suburban dwellers said rebuilding cities and relying more on public transportation is the most effective way to solve the impact of sprawl and traffic congestion.
  
  
• 67% said they support public and private incentives to help families buy or rent in cities.
  
  
• More than half, 52%, of both suburban and city residents support encouraging people to live in cities in order to discourage the over-development of suburban areas - 59% of city residents and 44% of suburban residents.
  
  
• 77% support the use of tax dollars to help improve public transportation where they live - 81% of city residents and 73% of suburban residents.
• 62% said the cost of housing had gotten worse in the city where they lived while 60 percent said job availability had improved over the past five years.
  
  
• More people in the suburbs than in the city feel that crime levels have gotten worse where they live, 30% of suburban dwellers compared to 23% of city residents.
  
  
• People in cities are becoming more confident about where they live, with 38% saying that crime levels have gotten better, compared with 22% of suburban residents.
  
  
• 74% said affordable housing should be made available to public servants, such as teachers, firefighters, and police officers so they can live in the communities where they work.
  
  
• 72% said that traffic had worsened in the city where they lived and 55 percent said access to public transportation had stayed the same or gotten worse in the past five years.
  
  
• 1 in 8 suburban residents said they are very likely or somewhat likely to move back to the city. This finding challenges the conventional belief that suburban residents universally wish to avoid the city.
  
  

GRANTS

Home Depot Community Grant Deadline: Proposals are accepted and must be postmarked between November 1st and December 15th annually. The Home Depot offers this grant as a commitment to giving back to the communities where their associates live and work. Efforts are concentrated in four main areas; affordable housing, at-risk youth, the environment and disaster preparedness and relief. For more information please visit http://www.homedepot.com and select company info, then community involvement.

GIS Grant Support for Non-Profit Organizations. Deadline: January 9, 20001 Conservation and environmental non-profit organizations seeking to use computer mapping technology can apply now for Conservation Technology Support Program (CTSP) grants of computers, software and training. Approximately 50 grant packages are available, using computers and printers donated by Hewlett Packard Company, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software by Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) and Clark Labs. Other vendors may also provide equipment and software. Land trusts, watershed organizations, groups working to save plant and animal habitats, environmental justice and urban open space groups, Indian Tribes, sustainable development groups, and many other types of groups are all of interest to CTSP. Interested groups should obtain the application guidelines at http://www.ctsp.org.

Leadership for a Changing World Nominations. Deadline: January 5, 2001 Leadership for a Changing World (http://leadershipforchange.org/) is currently seeking nominations of community leaders who are effectively tackling tough social problems with creative, systemic solutions. Each year, 20 leaders or groups will be recognized with awards of $100,000 (over a two-year period). Additionally, recipients will be provided with an independent learning account of $30,000 for learning activities that have the potential to advance their efforts.

National Wildlife Federation's Schoolyard Habitats Program. Deadline January 15, 2001. National Wildlife Federation's Schoolyard Habitats Program is offering 50 $250 "Wild Seed Fund" mini-grants to assist schools in the initial phases of a Schoolyard Habitats project. To be eligible, schools must be planning to create or restore wildlife habitat on their schoolgrounds, to use the site as a teaching tool, and to certify as an official Schoolyard Habitats site by March 15, 2002. The application can be downloaded from http://www.nwf.org/habitats/schoolyard/basics/fundraising.cfm.

Captain Planet Environmental Education Grants. Deadline- Applications are accepted any time but are reviewed one the last days of December, March, June and September The mission of the Captain Planet Foundation is to fund and support hands-on environmental projects for children and youths. All organization meeting 501 tax exemption status requirements are eligible to apply. ALL PROJECTS MUST: Promote understanding of environmental issues; Focus on hands-on involvement; Involve children and young adults 6-18; Promote interaction and cooperation within the group; Help young people develop planning and problem solving skills; Include adult supervision; Commit to follow-up communication with the Foundation. For more information visit the Captain Planet website at http://www.turner.com/cpf/.

Community Organizing Grant. Deadline: March 4, 2001. The Needmor Foundation is looking to fund multi-use membership based community organizations in low and moderate income communities which show promise for creating significant social change. The applications deadline is March 4, 2001. For more information contact The Needmor Fund at (303)449-5801 or visit their web site at http://fdcenter.org/grantmaker/needmor/index.htm.

PUBLICATIONS

Publications from Project for Public Spaces. "Public Parks, Private Partners: How Partnerships are Revitalizing Urban Parks." This book shows how the public and private sectors have joined together in new and innovative ways to develop new parks, to more efficiently fund and manage parks, and also to restore historically significant but run-down existing parks. Featuring examples of different types of partnerships throughout the U.S. - from highly structured relationships around large parks in major cities to more informal partnerships around inner-city neighborhood parks - it's a valuable tool for anyone involved in creating, preserving or managing urban parks. Read excerpts and get purchasing info at our Products Page: http://www.pps.org/urbanparks/upiproducts.htm. And coming December 1: "How To Turn A Place Around: A Handbook for Creating Successful Public Places."

Free Publications through the Urban Parks Institute. Since 1996, UPI has organized annual conferences for parks professionals in cities around the U.S. Each conference is documented by a proceedings publication full of information, success stories, resources, and ideas, along with provocative speeches from parks leaders across the country. Better still, they're free! We just request a $3 donation per publication for postage. For more information, see our Products Page: http://www.pps.org/urbanparks/upiproducts.htm#proceedings.

Place your orders now for The Practice of Watershed Protection, a comprehensive hardcover collection of more than 800 pages of the best feature articles and technical notes from all past issues of Techniques, bound and indexed for easy reference. The Practice costs $80 and will be shipped in January; contact dlb@cwp.org to order.

Kendall/Hunt Publishing has just released a new interactive multimedia tutorial for the identification of woody plants. Woody Plants in North America is a two-CD set split into angiosperms (hardwoods) and gymnosperms (softwoods) and covers both native and ornamental woody plants found across North America. Virginia Tech developed the software over a six-year period in cooperation with tree identification experts at Oregon State University, the Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Georgia. "We believe it is likely the single largest collection of color photographs for native woody plants found in North America," said John R. Seiler, forestry professor at Virginia Tech. One-page, printable fact sheets for all species in the program can be found at the website: www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro. Each fact sheet contains a text description plus several color photographs showing key features. Fact sheets are also linked directly to the USDA Silvics of North America. To learn more about the software visit the website: www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/wpina.

An Assessment of Our Nation's Urban Forests. The Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment, prepared periodically by the USDA Forest Service, reports on status and trends in renewable resources for all forests and rangelands in the United States. For the 2000 RPA Assessment, the first national assessment of urban forest resources in the United States was prepared. This technical report details variations in urbanization and urban tree cover across the United States by state, county, and individual urban areas. It illustrates local-scale variation, complexity, and connectedness of the urban forest resource and how this resource changes through time in response to a wide range of powerful forces. The report concludes by outlining future areas of emphasis that will facilitate comprehensive, adaptive, and sustainable urban forest management and improve environmental quality, enhance human health, and connect people with ecosystems in the 21st century. Connecting people with ecosystems in the 21st century: an assessment of our nation's urban forests. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-490. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 483 p. [You can view the document at http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/gtr490/gtr490.pdf.

The Urban and Community Forestry Program is pleased to announce the availability of the CD-ROM, "Restoring the Urban Forest Ecosystem", to assist communities and urban forestry professionals in caring for our nation's urban forests. The CD-ROM contains 10 illustrated chapters (both interactive and printable PDF) describing the principles and processes for restoring the health of the urban forest ecosystems. The CD-ROM was funded upon the recommendation of the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council (NUCFAC). This CD-ROM is the kind of tool being distributed through the technology transfer component of the Urban and Community Forestry Program. If you would like more information or a copy of the CD-ROM, contact Gracie Joy at 202-205-7829 or e-mail: gjoy@fs.fed.us. You may also contact Mary Duryea at the University of Florida at 352-846-0896 or e-mail: mlduryea@ufl.edu.

Future of the Forest Service. A new book entitled "A Vision for the US Forest Service: Goals for Its Next Century", edited by Roger Sedjo. Authors of the books 10 chapters include Chief Emeritus R. Max Peterson, ecologist Dan Botkin, and Senate Energy Committee staff director Mark Rey. The recommendations and perspectives presented in the book are diverse, to put it mildly; ranging from "scrapping" the agency and starting over to recognizing that the agency would likely have to become accustomed to working in a politicized and conflicted environment, rather than one in which there is broad consensus over their mission and direction. Information on ordering the book can be found on RFF's website at http://www.rff.org/books/descriptions/USForest_Service.htm.

WEBSITES

The Sacramento Cool Community Program has put together a list of cool alternative pavement types. You can find this list on our website at http://www.energy.ca.gov/coolcommunity/strategy/coolpave.html.

Check out the sustainability website: www.na.fs.fed.us/sustainability.

Guide for Cooperators Who Receive Grants Now Online. A Recipient's Guide for Administering Grants and Cooperative Agreements" is now available via the Internet. The guide provides a summary of the requirements from award to closeout. Go to the Cooperative Forestry website at http://www.fs.fed.us/cooperativeforestry/, and select Guide for Grants or Urban Resources Partnership from the Quick Index. Contact: Teresa McWhirt at tmcwhirt@fs.fed.us or (202) 205-1393.

The Cooperative Extension web site has a lot of links to funding programs that may be of help. The ones I looked at are past the deadline for applications this calendar year, but it is a good time to start writing something up for next year. Sustainable Ag. Research and Development (SARE) has an annual funding program including grants to farmers in the 3,000-$7,000 range, sometimes includes marketing and experimentation with different crops. I've applied to that myself under their USDA training option; did not get funded but at least have a little experience with it. That is one of the links on this site. Follow funding opportunites/CSREES/Community Supported Agriculture. HTTP://WWW.REEUSDA.GOV/1700/CSREES_MAIN.HTM.

Voter support of Open Space. If you would like to see how referenda on open space protection fared during the election, pay a visit to http://www.lta.org/policy/referenda2000.html If you would like to see results from a particular state, you can see each state individually. Also, they have results of previous years as well. For those who want more information about which ballot initiatives passed or not, and where, read your current issue of "Common Ground," the conservation newsletter from The Conservation Fund (Nov/Dec 2000) or visit this websites: www.tpl.org/tpl/LandVote2000.

JOB POSTINGS

For job opportunities please visit the Tree Talk Bulletin Board.

Position- Project Coordinator: Train educators to run tree and environmentally oriented activities in schools and after-school programs. Develop educational materials. Assist educators in developing tree-related service-learning projects. Experience teaching adults/children and teaching in the Philadelphia School District is a plus along with knowledge of trees and the environment, computer skills and a valid driver's license. Salary in the high twenties. Great benefits. For more information contact: Mindy Maslin from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society at 215-988-8844.

Fire Jobs: As a result of this year’s severe fire season, the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior have been allocated additional funding to increase firefighting capability to the 100% Most Efficient Level, and for positions to support the National Fire Plan in community assistance, fuels reductions, and ecosystem restoration and rehabilitation. This means the Forest Service will be hiring to fill approximately 3,500 positions. The vacancy announcements will open November 15 and will remain open until these 3,500 jobs are filled. Applicants are being encouraged to submit their application as soon as possible. Applications and additional information regarding new firefighting jobs with the Forest Service will be available. A web site has been established at www.fs.fed.us/fsjobs that will have information and frequently asked questions. By mid-December, an on-line application process will be available for applying to these jobs. An automated, toll-free telephone number is also available to request job applications at 1-877-813-3476 or email a request to fsjobs@fs.fed.us.

CONFERENCES

For conferences details and dates please visit the Tree Talk Bulletin Board.

The 2001 National Urban Forestry Conference -- Investing in Natural Capital, will be in Washington, DC, on September 5-8, 2001. I am doing outreach and registration for American Forests. –Kasey Russel, 304-345-7578.

Please help American Forests spread the word about the conference by using the attached briefing page in your newsletters or sending it out to others via email. We need your help to make sure we are reaching EVERY individual and group that is interested in environmental issues that affect urban and community forestry. Please send me your email lists or mailing lists by December 15 and we will send them conference information. Or, if you would prefer, we can get you fliers and posters and you can distribute them.

Hope VI Youth Conference. This conference is designed to get youth involved in the design of HOPE VI projects. Includes session on community space. More info on website http://www.ncced.org/.

Social Issues and the Environment is scheduled for March 6-8, 2001 at Lied Conference Center, Nebraska City, Nebraska. This premiere national conference is being designed to provide an exchange of information and an opportunity for community leaders to better understand the inter-relationship of societal and environmental issues. Presentations will focus on a variety of projects like community gardens, urban greenspace improvement, neighborhood health assessments, environmental risk mapping, youth environmental clubs, and training for environmental service jobs and demonstrate the positive impact these projects can have on societal issues. For more information contact The National Arbor Day Foundation at (402)474-5655 or conferences@arborday.org.