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: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1386860
4 CityTREES President's Message Scott Altenhoff Executive Director's Message Jerri J. LaHaie Could it be that we are final- ly going to be able to see each other in person after a year of pandemic isola- tion?! We certainly hope to see all of you in November in Louisville, Kentucky at the 57 th SMA Annual Conference and Trade Show. Headed up by Dorothy Abeyta, our conference committee is busy finalizing the agen- da, signing up sponsors and exhibitors, and plan- ning for what feels like a family reunion. Municipal Forestry Institute (MFI) Alum and TreesLouisville Executive Director/President Cindi Sullivan and her team of local experts are eager to show us around. And speaking of MFI, just around the corner is July 15, the deadline for applying for MFI 2021. Bowling Green State University is working hard to make sure that we all feel safe from Covid during our week there, September 26 – October 2, 2021. We have diversity scholarships available, so hop on over to the SMA website and get your application in, or encourage your colleagues to attend. And if you want to help some- one attend MFI, you can contribute any amount to the diversity scholarship fund. The expanded MFI plan- ning committee is busy making updates and incorpo- rating current information to the curriculum. It's going to be the best MFI ever. (Yes, we say that every year!) There is no better time to be a member of SMA. Please encourage those you work with to join this group of urban forestry professionals who freely share their knowledge and experience with each other. Your board members, membership commit- tee, and state liaisons are doubling down on their efforts to recruit new members and involve our current members in learning from each other. There's one way you can help. Check out the mem- bers in your state on our website and if you notice someone missing, just ask them to join us. It's relatively painless to fill out the membership form on our website or to add on 'SMA Membership' to your ISA renewal invoice. Everyone could use professional support, and there is no better per- son to turn to than a fellow SMA member. My goodness, it's hard to believe that 2021 is already half over! It's also hard to believe that I'm back to working from my office full-time, without a mask, and finally able to have in-person meetings again, inter- acting face-to-face rather than just virtually. It's strange to think that I used to grumble about having too many in-person meetings! Never again. If the pandemic has taught me anything, it's that the little things we typically take for granted are what make life meaningful and worthwhile. For me personally, the last year and a half has been one big lesson on the impor- tance of relationships and interpersonal connections. This is precisely why I value our organization so much, and why I am so glad that we will be able to host our flagship program, the Municipal Forestry Institute (MFI), again this fall. As always, it's going to be an amazing gathering of minds and spirits—and could well be the best class ever. Our MFI Planning Committee and MFI Teaching Cadre have been working hard to pin down the countless logistical details and refine the curriculum in order to keep up with our quickly evolving times. I attended MFI in 2016 and really wish that I had known about this incredible opportunity sooner. While MFI definitely provided me with a lot of new knowledge and conceptual tools, the most valuable takeaways from that experience involved the dozens of close person- al connections I was able to make and the renewed sense of professional purpose I've felt ever since. Even after five years, I still interact several times a week with many of my MFI classmates and instructors. It would be hard to overstate just how much of a posi- tive difference this experience and network of support and inspiration has made in my life and career. For those of you who have not yet taken advan- tage of MFI, I'd like to encourage you to "seize the day" and make this the year. You will be so glad you did. For those of you who have already partici- pated, please consider reaching out to a colleague who has not yet attended MFI and encourage them to sign up. The impact this will have on their life, our profession, and the world at large will be huge.