City Trees

Please tell us about your educational and career path. Steve Cothrel: I chose The Ohio State University when I went to school because they had the stron- gest natural resources program in Ohio. I started in 1978 as a Parks & Recreation major, but I changed to Forestry after my first dendrology class with Professor William Cowan. However, as I neared graduation my interests more closely aligned with urban forestry, so I stuck around Ohio State until 1985 to earn a mas- ter's degree with a focus on urban forestry. It was somewhat of a custom major that Forestry Professor Dr. Jack Vimmerstedt helped me put together. Shortly after graduating, I was lucky to land a job as an urban forester with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry, where UF Coordinator Drew Todd taught me an awful lot in a few short years. From there I moved into the municipal sector with Upper Arlington, where I had the rare chance to develop a new urban forestry program from scratch, and where I've been fortunate enough to manage the program for nearly 30 years. My ISA and SMA experiences and contacts have been extraordinarily helpful over those decades. What does SMA Accreditation mean for your program? SC: Upper Arlington has been a pioneer or leader in numerous ways throughout its history. It is a fully developed community near downtown Columbus and adjacent to the Ohio State University campus, so residents are generally well educated, supportive of innovation, and appreciative of excellence. Becoming accredited by the SMA gave us an objec- tive way to measure our UF program against the best standards and practices in the profession, and to assure our residents that we were well pre- pared to manage their precious urban forest. It also enhanced our credentials to deal with major chal- lenges including the devastating arrival of emerald ash borer, the onslaught of invasive plants, and the establishment of gypsy moth in our area. Finally, the process of becoming accredited and developing an Urban Forest Management Plan was really benefi- cial for our staff and our City's tree commission. We had some coverage of achieving SMA Accreditation in the local newspaper, we presented at City Council, and we promoted our accreditation through social media. We use the SMA Accreditation logo in various ways throughout the year. >> 24 CityTREES The Division maintains 10 City gateways, which feature limestone boulders, bronze plaques, and landscapes maintained by horticulturist Lisa Metcalf. For its Centennial in 2018, recognized trees that were program was very popular. Trommer and her dog distributed them to make

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