28 CityTREES
Featured UCFS-Accredited City
Des Moines, Iowa
By Michelle Sutton, Editor, City Trees
Shane McQuillan has been with the City of
Des Moines, Iowa for nine years, first as Urban
Forestry Project Manager and, since 2021, as City
Forester. He has a bachelor's degree in Forestry
and a master's degree in Public Administration.
Des Moines [Urban] Forestry is housed out
of Public Works (the City also has American
Public Works Association Accreditation.)
McQuillan secured UCFS Accreditation for the City's
urban forestry program while he was fairly new
with the City. "[UCFS Past President] Scott Altenhoff
was my mentor in the application process, for which
I was grateful because there was a lot for me to
figure out about the inner and higher level workings
of the City," McQuillan says. "It was challenging, but
also interesting, and great preparation for when I
[eventually] applied to the City Forester position."
One of Des Moines's superpowers is its deep col-
laboration with Trees Forever, for whom UCFS
Director Leslie Berckes worked for more than
11 years before she came to UCFS. "Leslie and I
worked closely together for six or seven years,
organizing the volunteers for tree events and
walking the city to select appropriate sites,"
McQuillan says. In the early days of the part-
nership, the City would secure the trees and
provide City arborists to assist on planting days.
McQuillan, Berckes, and former Des Moines City
Forester David Jahn also brainstormed what
became Trees Forever's teen employment and
tree care program, Growing Futures. Through
Growing Futures, youth teams from Des Moines
neighborhoods have planted more than 4,500
trees, and they water nearly 2,000 trees per
week throughout the summer. In addition to an
excellent hourly wage, Growing Futures >>
