Schedule

1. 9:00

Welcoming Remarks

Kim Yuan-Farrell, The Park People

2. 9:15

From Information to Engagement: Building Community Ownership of the Urban Forest

Dana Karcher, Red Bud Strategies

Community engagement in urban forestry starts with the acknowledgement that our role, as the experts in the room, is to build coalitions that steward trees. Those coalitions may be small or large, based in neighborhoods or entire cities, and provide small ideas or a great deal of input. The concept of engagement is to build ownership of urban forests. That may start with a single tree planted in a nearby park, or attending meetings on tree policy or future urban forestry growth. Steps to ownership are very distinct but include a great deal of information and engagement at a variety of levels. This talk will synthesize successful engagement steps and tasks that lead to urban forest ownership, transforming urban forestry programs and even entire communities.

3. 10:15

Morning Break

4. 10:35

Rooted in Community: How Any City Can Build a Volunteer Tree Force

Freddie Haberecht, City of Fort Collins
Eric Larmer, Volunteer
Bev Shaw, Volunteer

Join Fort Collins forestry specialist Freddie Haberecht and Urban Forest Ambassador co-chairs Eric Larmer and Bev Shaw to learn how to build a municipal volunteer program that can assist with tree inventory upkeep, pruning, and Arbor Day actives. They will share ways they have been successful at keeping volunteers engaged, the basics of training and on boarding, and the value volunteers can add to a municipal forestry program.

5. 11:35

Leveraging Collaborative Initiatives for Community Engagement in Urban Forestry

Stephanie Cadaval, University of Florida Extension

Collaboration is increasingly recognized as essential for addressing complex social, ecological, and governance challenges in urban forest management. But getting to collaboration can be difficult. This presentation lays out lessons learned from the development of the new University of Florida Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences Urban Forestry Extension Council (UFEC). Building on findings from a systematic literature review on conflict and collaboration in urban forestry and paired with statewide needs across Florida, this presentation details UFEC’s formation, mission, and structure. We’ll highlight accomplishments from our first year, and attendees will walk away with examples of how collaborative approaches to Extension can decrease fragmentation, improve knowledge exchange, and support urban forestry education and outreach statewide.

6. 12:35

Lunch

7. 1:25

Dialogue with Tree Board Members

Allison O’Connor, Town of Windsor Tree Board
Adam Moore, City of Alamosa Tree Board
Jason Shimmel, Town of Erie Tree Board
Daniel Burcham, Colorado State University

Tree boards are a common way for people to get involved in stewarding their community’s trees. While some commonalities exist, like Arbor Day celebrations, the committees often organize their work in very different ways. In this panel dialogue, several tree board members from communities across Colorado will share about their work and offer recommendations for similar efforts elsewhere, drawing on their experience with public advocacy, communication, and education.

8. 2:40

Afternoon Break

9. 3:00

PlantNebraska: 50 Years of Tree Planting and Exploration

Justin Evertson, Nebraska Forest Service & PlantNebraska

PlantNebraska has been planting Nebraska for healthy people, greener communities and a resilient environment since 1977. That mission is accomplished through tree planting, garden making, community building, and environmental education and outreach. This presentation will touch on the history and impacts of PlantNebraska, including the network of affiliated arboretum sites known as the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum. We’ll then take a closer look at efforts to expand tree species diversity and availability across the state.

10. 4:00

Closing Remarks