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/510169
Happy Spring, everyone! For many of us, our busy season is upon us. Whether it is planting new trees or working with contractors, communica - tion is key. We want to make sure we are planting the trees correctly to help ensure a long and happy life. We need to communicate with the contractors working around our trees to make sure they are working to help preserve our existing tree canopy. SMA is a valuable resource to help gain the confidence and competence to be leaders in our field. Use the SMA member Listserve to your advantage! The camaraderie among SMA members is great, and many are willing to help a fellow member. Another great resource is our annual conference. I hope many of you are planning to join us in Denver in November. The executive board and conference committee are busy at work putting the conference together. It's a great way to re-energize the municipal forestry "batteries." Have you considered getting your forestry program accredit - ed? SMA Accreditation is a great way to show your community and local leaders how dedicated your program is to municipal forestry. If you are already meeting these requirements then please consider applying today: • At least one ISA Certified Arborist on staff, with an ISA Certified Municipal Specialist preferred • A Local Forest Management Plan • Tree City USA status (or equivalent outside U.S., if possible) • A Tree City USA Growth Award within the past five years (or equivalent outside U.S., if possible) • Demonstrated preference to TCIA Accredited tree care companies (or equivalent outside U.S.) when private arborists are contracted • Adherence to ANSI Z133.1 safety standards, and ANSI A300 tree care performance standards (or equivalents outside the U.S.) • A pledge of adherence to the SMA Code of Ethics and to promote SMA objectives Please visit the SMA website for more information (www.urban-forestry.com). Hope you all have a great growing season! My favorite thing about SMA is the sharing that goes on between our members. Sharing information, experiences, ideas—it truly is a peer- to-peer learning organization. Passing all that hard-earned knowledge on to the next generation is something that gets all of us at SMA excited. We are so fortunate to have the support of the USDA Forest Service in partnering with us to continue our Student Intern Program. We have already had great success in placing students in cities so that they can learn first-hand what the job of municipal arborist/urban forester entails. I can't count the number of times I have heard you say, "I had no idea that my job would be working with people so much, I thought I was going to be working with trees!" or some variation of that. This 10-week program seeks to give students a very practical view of what it means to be a city forester. Host cities must submit a list of activities from each of the domains of the municipal spe - cialist certification that they will expose their student interns to, thereby giving them a good overview of the types of job duties of the position. Since the job requires so much collab- oration with other people and groups, we will be focusing on the work that non-profits and utility arborists do as well. Students will have a better understanding of possible job opportunities in urban forestry to pursue upon their gradua - tion. They will also have mentors and a network of profession- als to support them as they begin their careers. This collab- oration among universities and colleges, member host cities, the Forest Service, and SMA is certainly an investment in the future of urban forestry. And speaking of students, we are about to welcome 350 urban forestry students as SMA members. When a stu - dent joins either ISA or one of its chapters, he/she will also become a non-voting member of SMA and the other Professional Affiliates. They will have access to online City Trees, the listserve, and member discounts at our events. So, even if you haven't been able to host a student in your city, you can now connect virtually. I have to wonder what excite - ment this might bring to the listserve dialogue! Having lived in college towns all of my adult life, I know that where there are students, there will be energy. What a great opportunity to engage with these future urban foresters! I know many of you have fond memories of someone you met through SMA who impacted your career, if not your life. Being able to share this great organization with today's students and tomorrow's lead - ers, well, how can you not be excited about that?! President's Message David Lefcourt Executive Director's Message Jerri J. LaHaie 4 City Trees