This newsletter is sent electronically via email or fax 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 and archived at www.treelink.org

Submissions to this newsletter are welcome and requested. Items suitable for inclusion are state and national urban forestry information, products or innovations, and notices of regional and national urban forestry events. Please submit a maximum of two paragraphs to Pam Louks by the 20th of the month for inclusion in the following month's edition.

NEXT DUE DATE FOR SUBMISSION: July 20, 2002

Compiled and Edited by:

Pamela Louks, Indiana Department of Natural Resources
(plouks@dnr.state.in.us) phone (317) 915-9390

Phillip D. Rodbell, USDA Forest Service - Northeastern Area
(prodbell@fs.fed.us) phone (610) 557-4133

Pepper Provenzano, TreeLink.org
(pepper@treelink.org)

State Coordinators News

Words for thought

-- NYC Councilman James Sanders Jr., calling for
the planting of thousands of "Liberty Trees" to
honor victims of the World Trade Center attacks.

-- Chicago Financier Richard Sandor
in The Boston Globe, June 16

What's on your mind regarding urban forestry and where it stands now? Good, bad, indifferent, respected, accepted? Send your views to Pam.   [back to top]

Some interesting responses from last months question:

Missouri  -I'm delighted with the growing interest in gathering social data associated with community forestry. We as foresters just know that trees are a good thing, but to be able to communicate that to someone who has a different paradigm than we do is challenging. Being able to put your finger on what people think and why (even in general terms) is invaluable. This social data will help us be more effective at communicating our key messages. The Missouri Department of Conservation has undertaken an attitude survey of public officials in our state. Communities will be divided into 8 broad groups. We will look at these broad groups to draw conclusions. We also hope to tie these attitudes to sample tree data collected by our foresters in 44 communities across the state. Ideally we would like to look at what a city thinks and correlate it to the health, size and diversity of the community forest. We are in the data-entry mode now and should have some results this fall. For more information contact gartnj@mail.conservation.state.mo.us

ON THE NATIONAL FRONT

House and Senate Subcommittees Support Urban Forestry in FY 2003  [back to top]

Despite competing conservation issues and tight budget caps in a time of war, the House and Senate appropriations subcommittees on Interior and Related Agencies came through with relatively strong marks for Urban and Community Forestry. Under Chairman Joe Skeen's (R-NM) leadership, the subcommittee marked UCF at $36 million (level funded from FY 2002). The Senate subcommittee chairman Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) marked UCF at $37.4 million (the level recommended by the National Association of State Foresters). While representing level funding requests, these marks demonstrate a clear and continuing commitment to the natural resource issues faced by cities and towns nationwide. At the time of publication, we have not seen the manager's report from these mark-ups and don't know what if any earmarks are contained within. Once approved by the full committee and the full House and Senate before the August recess, a conference committee will meet in September to iron out differences before final floor action and signature by the President. Some details on the House side can be viewed at the following address: http://www.house.gov/appropriations/news/107_2/03intsub.htm

Urban and Community Forestry Elevated at USDA Forest Service  [back to top]

Deputy Chief Joel Holtrop has announced that the UCF program, at the recommendation of the National Association of State Foresters, will be immediately separated from Cooperative Forestry and report directly to the Deputy Chief's office. The establishment of a new position of Director for UCF will add a new voice to Forest Service leadership to assure that the agency cares for the land and serves people in urban areas and rural and under-served communities. In the announcement, he noted that the Forest Service can improve safety and health of urban populations; share authorities and tools to assist urban forest managers facing pressures from expanding urban and suburban centers; assist local governments in resource decision-making through technical assistance; assist communities in enhanced capacity for resource planning, conservation, and improved resource management; and educate urban and suburban dwellers about the significance of forestry and resource management in their everyday lives.

An announcement has been issued to fill the vacant position of national director, Urban and Community Forestry Program, based in Washington, DC with a salary of $78,000 to $119,000. To view the job details, visit the following website: http://jsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/summary.asp?OPMControl=IE6178

Nominees Sought for National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council  [back to top]

The Forest Service is requesting nominations by July 30 for three positions on the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council. The positions will serve from Jan. 1, 2003, through Dec. 31, 2005. The three positions seeking nominations are: 1) a person representing forest products, nursery, or related industries; 2) a person representing academic institutions with expertise in urban and community forestry activities; and 3) a person who is not an officer or employee or any governmental body residing in a city with a population of more than 50,000 and has expertise and has been active in urban and community forestry. Contact: Suzanne M. del Villar at delvr@lodelink.com or 209-536-9201.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES  [back to top]

Urban and Community Forestry related job opportunities are plentiful on the internet at TreeLink. Go to the Tree Talk Bulletin Board

GRANTS $$$$  [back to top]

Bookmark these listings of funding opportunities!

Urban Parks Institute http://urbanparks.pps.org/topics/funding/
TECHFOUNDATION http://www.techfoundation.org
The River Network http://www.rivernetwork.org/library/libsou.cfm
USDA Forest Service http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/spf/partners.html
Funding for Youth Programs www.doleta.gov/youth_services/maps-founding.asp
Department of Energy http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/

Programs Benefiting School-Aged Children
Deadline: Feb. 15, May 15, Aug. 15, and Nov. 15, 2002
http://www.rockfound.org
The Best Buy Children's Foundation (BBCF) awards grants to nonprofit organizations that take an innovative approach to building life skills in young people through education, mentoring, and leadership development. Funding is directed to multicultural programs located in Best Buy market areas for children ages 5 to 18. Funding priorities include, but are not limited to: Program development; direct project support; specific curriculum development; and scholarship aid for participants in life skills or mentoring programs. BBCF typically awards grants ranging from $2,000 -$10,000 for community- based organizations. Contact: 952-947-2650 ; http://www.bestbuy.com/About/CommunityRelations

PUBLICATIONS & WEBSITES  [back to top]

In the TreeLink Spotlight
Here are some new items of interest in the Resource Spotlight on the front of www.TreeLink.org:

• Ground Work: Investigating the Need for Nature in the City - This report examines benefits associated with integrating nature into the urban environment.
  
  
• Human-Environment Research Laboratory - This site contains both summaries and technical papers detailing research in this area.
  
  
• Human Dimension of Urban and Community Forestry - An excellent collection of information exploring the urban forestry-human connection.

University of Minnesota Resources
The University of Minnesota has a web site that lists urban forestry organizations. The url is: http://forestry.lib.umn.edu/agnic/urban.phtml

Short Courses in Baltimore
For educational opportunities check the webpage of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study: http://www.ecostudies.org/bes/frame5-page_2b.html

American Forests Unveils CITYgreen 5.0
American Forests unveiled the latest in CITYgreen software, a comprehensive, user-friendly program that allows people living in metro areas to translate tree cover into municipal cost savings. Now in its fifth generation, CITYgreen 5.0 takes urban forest ecosystem analysis to the next level. The new software allows investigation of larger areas such as watersheds, political boundaries within cities, or entire city areas. For the first time, visitors can download CITYgreen 5.0 and the sample data needed to evaluate the software on a trial basis at www.americanforests.org.

Fundraising Best Practices
Best Practices build value as they enhance your ability to prosper. A member survey at the Association of Fundraising Professionals' International Conference in St. Louis found 125 practices worth replicating. You may follow this link to view the entire list: http://hartsookgroup.com/afp/bestpractices.shtml.

National Geologic Map Database
You can search more than 100,000 records of existing maps and learn where to purchase them at this unique site: http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/.

A History of Forest Sustainability
The Forest History Society has just published a new release in the Issues Series entitled "Forest Sustainability: The History, The Challenge, The Promise" authored by Donald W. Floyd. It provides a historical context to a rapidly evolving topic. Floyd discusses aspects of technology, population, and human behavior, that need to be addressed if we are to make our best strides toward achieving sustainability. Recommended for teachers, students, or natural resource professionals that deal with the concept of sustainability. A short description of the booklet and order form can be found at: http://www.lib.duke.edu/forest/Publications/issues.html

Tree Inventory for Those on the Go
The Mobile Community Tree Inventory (MCTI), a software program for Windows and Palm operating systems, was developed as a desktop and personal digital assistant (PDA) package. The package provides a versatile tree inventory collection system for municipal tree managers and consultants for fieldwork and record keeping. Using the PDA and Palm OS component of the MCTI software package greatly increases the effectiveness of professional tree managers by replacing cumbersome paper tallies and expensive computerized data recorders. The MCTI is currently in use by more than a dozen communities for completing street and park inventories. For more information visit the web site at http://www.umas.edu/urbantree/palm or http://www.umass.edu/urbantree/mcti/.

The Benefits of Urban Forestry
Need a quick reference for facts and figures about urban forestry? Dr. Kathleen Wolf of the University of Washington has a great website listing the benefits of trees to cities, small business districts, roadways, and more. Check it out at http://www.cfr.washington.edu/research.envmind/textlist.html.

New Plant Image Websites
An image website at the Oregon State University, http://osu.orst.edu/dept/ldplants/ and at the University of Connecticut at http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants.

NASA Studies Urban Heat Islands
In findings from similar studies, it was found that city parks and other urban areas with trees were 20-40 degrees cooler than parking lots and areas with a high concentration of buildings. For more information, contact David E. Steitz, NASA Headquarters, Washington DC., 202-358-1730. The website address is http://www.state.nj.us/dep/forestry/community/new.html#NASA.

Search Available Publications
North Central Research Station has a search engine for publications. Type in "urban" and see what comes up: http://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/searchtools/

Invasive Species on the East Coast
The following site has practical information for east coast / urban invasive plants and how to control them. http://www.nlreep.org/invasive_plants.htm

Case Studies of Retrofitting Parks into Urban Blocks
http://www.communitygreens.org A national organization formed in 2001-Community Greens in Arlington, VA (703-527-8300 x255) -- is promoting more urbane, livable cities through the creation of parks that are collectively owned and managed by the neighbors whose homes and backyards, decks, patios, and balconies enclose the green. The case studies represent a broad variety of forest communities, examine the factors that prompt group action, and look at whether or not groups are making a difference on the land and in their communities. To request a copy of "Forest Communities, Community Forests," contact Forest Community Research (530) 284-1022 or http://www.FCResearch.org

Local Tree Board information
About 70 towns and cities in Massachusetts have tree boards, tree committees or non-profit tree groups. Here is a link to a fact sheet they put out on tree boards:

http://www.state.ma.us/dem/programs/forestry/urban/fs-tfb.doc

CONFERENCE CALENDAR  [back to top]

July 2002

August 2002

September 2002

October 2002

November 2002