What are some specific ways
you involve the public?
SA: We do a tremendous amount of community
outreach and engagement, especially at the neigh-
borhood level, giving presentations and meeting
with homeowners' associations and other neighbor-
hood groups. We also work extensively with schools
(universities and elementary levels). We have a
robust volunteer program called Eugene Outdoors;
in 2017 volunteers helped us plant 453 trees around
town. We also have a dedicated Marketing and
Outreach Section within our Parks and Open Space
Division, so we are constantly talking to the media,
giving presentations, offering trainings and hold-
ing special events. Sometimes it can seem like a
distraction, but it really does pay off in the end.
What do you wish you had
more time for in your job?
SA: Honestly, just about everything. We'd love to
be able to focus more on comprehensive tree code
revision, marketing and outreach materials/website
design, community engagement, development plan
review, GIS development, preventative hands-on tree
care, strategic planning, professional networking,
and code violation enforcement. There just never
seem to be enough hours in the day to accomplish
what we want … but we give it our best shot.
What collaborations within
the City organization and
with contractors does
your team engage in?
SA: We are medium-sized city with a full comple-
ment of specialized urban forestry staff. We also
utilize contractors quite a bit to supplement our
efforts. Our team's primary charge is to plan and
manage our street tree population, but we col-
laborate frequently with other teams who also
have tree-related responsibilities in other areas.
These other teams include Park Operations, Natural
Area Operations, the Ecosystem Services team,
the Stormwater Infrastructure Maintenance team,
and the Eugene Outdoors team. We also collab-
orate a lot with other agencies and private tree
care companies. As one can see, the City of Eugene
Volunteer tree planting event in a Eugene
park. Photo by Wolfram Burner
36 CityTREES
