Doug Still, Rachel Barker, and Jeremy Barrick were
among the SMA Past Presidents to virtually pass
"the gavel" all the way up to now-President Scott
Altenhoff, who provided the most of-the-moment
visual, receiving a can of Lysol as his honorary gavel.
Columbus, Ohio Environmental
Planner Rosalie Herndon pre-
sented "Investing in Trees for
Health, Safety, and Equity:
Creating the First Urban Forestry
Master Plan for Columbus." The
City of Columbus, Ohio lever-
aged existing data, community
and industry stakeholders, and a consultant team
to create the first Columbus Urban Forestry Master
Plan (UFMP). As UFMP Project Manager, Rosalie
detailed challenges, opportunities, and early wins
that Columbus used to build a successful plan. A crit-
ical component of the UFMP is social equity. Using
data modeling and stakeholder input, a priority
planting tool now exists to guide future tree plantings
on both public and private lands. This tool includes
a social equity index based on nine factors spanning
health, crime, demographics, and socioeconomic data
that were selected by a stakeholder committee.
Morton Arboretum Chicago Region
Trees Initiative (CRTI) Community
Coordinator Emily Okallau pre-
sented on "Data and Beyond:
Building Equitable Urban Forestry
Programs." CRTI has been using
data to identify how the region
could benefit from a more equi-
table distribution of its urban forest. They've asked,
how do we ensure that we are inclusive and partnering
with organizations that represent the demographic of
the entire region? What do we need to know about
equity in order to work equitably in urban forestry?
Passing the Gavel
urban-forestry.com 31
