City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/22884
dents. He designed the GIS inventory so that students can go online and download campus tree notes and pho- tos that are tailored specifically to their curriculum. MSC is also a unique campus because it is home to the 167-acre Waddell Barnes Botanical Gardens. Many cam- puses in Georgia are starting new arboretums, tree trails, and campus groves, providing educational opportunities to the larger community as well. With ready access to smart phones, it’s easier than ever to follow the tree-trail “play of the game.” Check out one of the latest apps being embraced: EveryTrail (www.everytrail.com). Sixteen college campuses were represented at the MSC conference; each is distinct in its resources, but all the campus arborists share challenges around stormwater runoff, insects and disease, species diversity, con- struction, safety, and liability and maintenance issues, among others. The conference gave the arborists the opportunity to engage with one another and bring fresh solutions to their universities. It also underscored a need to continue to set high standards and practices. After all, our campuses are home to some of the larg- est trees—and threatened ones, due to never ending campus expansion projects. With speakers including Skip Kincaid of the Davey Resource Group and Dr. Bruce Fraedrich of the F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Company, in addition to several campus arborists from across the state, we were able to share valuable knowledge about all of these issues. Touchdown! *** In Georgia, there are five colleges recognized by The Arbor Day Foundation (ADF) for their efforts to plant and maintain trees: Georgia Tech, Gwinnett Tech, Albany Tech, Macon State, and Emory. These institutions have Dignitaries from Macon State College and Georgia Forestry Commission Director Robert Farris plant a tree on the MSC cam- pus for Georgia’s Arbor Day. Photo Courtesy Susan Granbery met the following five ADF standards for becoming a Tree Campus USA: Standard 1 - A Campus Tree Advisory Committee that includes community members and local tree board members Standard 2 - Campus Tree Care Plan Standard 3 - Campus Tree Program with dedi- cated annual expenditures Standard 4 - Arbor Day Observance Standard 5 - Service Learning Project If there is a university in your community, consider reaching out to its administration with an invitation to participate in the ADF Tree Campus USA program. The Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta is one of the Tree Campus USA star players. Georgia Tech Facilities Landscape Manager Hyacinth Ide said his team of 45 full-time employees, including three horticul- turists, tends 162 landscape acres (66 ha). The cam- pus is home to more than 7,000 trees, with the newest round of trees (60) planted in 2009. According to Ide, the beauty of Tech’s campus was cited in a survey of students as a major reason they chose the school, sec- ond only to curriculum. While Tree Campus star Georgia Tech may have a bigger budget than the average community, planting trees can be a healthy, engaging and competitive activity, especial- ly during football season. No matter which schools are participating, as was shown at the Georgia conference, we all win when we come together and learn more about campus trees. Our goal is the same: to plant trees and create a living legacy that neighbors and alumni can return to watch grow for generations. Victory! Campuses with big, healthy trees attract potential students and their families. Photo Courtesy Emory University www.urban-forestry.com For more information about tree planting and forestry in Georgia, visit GaTrees.org. 17