City Trees

4 CityTREES President's Message Earl Eutsler Executive Director's Message Leslie Berckes Association, society, alliance, league, coalition. These words and the core mean- ing—a group of people organized for a joint pur- pose—have been on my mind a lot lately, as they should be for the director of SMA. But I'm talking deep, crit- ical, analytical thoughts about what it really means to belong to a society and what people want out of it. My experience, like that of so many of you, was on the front line of urban forestry work where I was training volunteers, ordering (and reordering) trees, following site specs for tree placement, talking with contractors, negoti- ating with homeowners, and everything else it took to get just one tree in the ground. Many days it was really hard and draining. Others sent me sky-high with excitement. While this experience serves me well for navigating the world of urban forestry, the world of associations is something new to me. Sure, I was a member of SMA and the Alliance for Community Trees, but I came at it from a different perspective. Now, I've learned that associations are a world unto themselves; heck, there's even an association for associations. While I'm learning a lot about the intricacies of an associ- ation structure, what I know for sure is that there is awesome power in being among your people. Being with the people who get you, understand you, and like you, fully embrace their tree-hugging nerd identity! So, back to my original question—what do people really want out of a society? This what I want you to tell me. This is why we conducted an SMA member survey in June, which we'll share the results of in a future issue. Do members want discounts, educational classes, networking events, just to be among their people, something else? Thanks to your responses to the survey and to having meaningful conversations with you, the SMA Board and I are getting a fuller picture. You've probably noticed a few changes at SMA—and with your feedback, there will be more to come—all done in the name of better serving you and our profession. Thank you for sharing your thoughts for improving our society … and keep them coming! The Municipal Forestry Institute (MFI), which I attended in 2008, was one of the most valuable experiences in my professional career. I remem- ber Michael Rains from the U.S. Forest Service's Northern Research Station saying, "Urban forests are the front lines in the battle against climate change." That statement under- pins the recent historic investments by the United States made in the realm of urban and community forestry (UCF). MFI occupies a unique and critical role in growing our com- munity of practice, as it is focused exclusively on developing leaders in UCF. So that MFI remains as relevant to future attend- ees as it was for me and others, the SMA Board of Directors and Executive Director Leslie Berckes elected to use 2023 as a focus year, with an aim of ensuring MFI meets modern stan- dards for urban forestry leadership development. To achieve this, Leslie and the Board convened alumni and other key stake- holders to share feedback on MFI's curriculum and format. With work well underway to launch a refreshed and modern- ized MFI in 2024 (in a captivating location!), I wanted to share a few key insights/takeaways from the MFI Alumni Survey: • 100% of respondents would recommend MFI to a colleague. (This confirms the value and importance of MFI to the nearly 900 graduates.) • Nearly 90% of MFI Alumni considered the instruction to be relevant. • Nearly 90% of MFI Alumni found guest speakers added value and provided current information. • Twice as many respondents identified currently as "Municipal or Urban Forester" than did "Arborist." • More than half of all respondents attended MFI in the first 10 years of their career. The comments we received were thoughtful and insightful, so thank you to everyone who took the time to participate. I'll share one of my favorite quotes provided by an alum: "THANK YOU for the vision of MFI, as this opportunity initi- ated incredible growth for me professionally and personally." Lastly, please take a look at our calendar of events, where you will find numerous offerings. Keep a close eye out for the upcom- ing announcement for MFI 2024. Thanks to your feedback, MFI promises to be even more relevant, timely, and useful!

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