UCFS Accreditation
You may have noticed a pattern: each of our orga-
nization's flagship programs is getting renewed
attention by UCFS leadership to ensure they best
meet the needs of our members. For our Municipal
Forestry Institute (MFI), we used 2023 as a stake-
holder focus year so that MFI could come back even
stronger, more relevant, and more energized in 2024.
We had a record number of attendees for MFI 2024
UCFS News
• UCFS Accreditation Lives!
• Chicago Conference in November
• Register Your Interest Now in MFI 2025
By Leslie Berckes, Executive Director, Urban and Community Forestry Society
and interest in the 2025 Institute is high (we invite
you to register your interest, too!) The Arborist
Exchange and Mentoring programs have also been
invigorated, each with record levels of participation.
Now we are turning our attention to UCFS
Accreditation. From Portland, Oregon to Des Moines,
Iowa to Surrey, British Colombia, we're reconnecting
with UCFS-accredited cities to find
out what's working for them, and
what can be improved. You'll be
hearing more about this in issues
to come, but for now, we asked
Santa Monica, California Urban
Forest Supervisor Madeleine Rauhe
1) How UCFS Accreditation has
served her department and 2)
What some of her department's
"superpowers" are, and how UCFS
Accreditation helps her com-
municate those to the public.
"Morty" is Santa Monica's famed
Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophylla),
located in Tongva Park.
10 CityTREES
