of Florida, continue to learn through ISA
courses, and work on implementing Winter
Haven's Urban Forest Master Plan.
While my role is becoming more urban for-
estry focused, Winter Haven doesn't yet have
a dedicated urban forestry division. I work out
of the Natural Resources Division of the Public
Works Department. We are a City with nearly
50 lakes, so originally my role was focused on
stormwater quality projects, such as street
sweeping, rain gardens, and stormwater infra-
structure analysis. With time, I started to be
more plugged in to Public Works asset and
work management resulting in my current
hybrid role of Ecosystem & Asset Analyst.
With funding from the Florida Forest Service
and the contracted services of PlanIT Geo—
who facilitated a meaningful series of public
input/engagement events and prioritized
tree equity throughout—we created a Winter
Haven Urban Forest Management Plan. Then
we secured an IRA grant to implement the
plan over the next five years, a grant which
funds tree planting, maintenance of new
and existing trees, and community engage-
ment and education. We should have 2000
more trees in the public space by the end
of the project timeline, which is really
exciting to think about. The IRA-funded five-
year work UFMP implementation is about a
$700,000 investment, with $370,000 from
IRA and a matching amount from the City.
It's by far the largest single investment to
date the City has made in urban forestry.
Getting my MS in Natural Resources
Administration and Planning will allow me to
take my leadership to the next level on behalf
of our natural resources and community. I'm
very interested in developing policies that will
help change behaviors, because I've seen the
loss of canopy due to a lack of good policy in
Winter Haven. To this end, we just finished
drafting and getting approval for the City's first
tree protection ordinance, which was a great
process to be a part of but highlighted a need
for more grounding in policy management, >>
Savannah Winstanley visiting Sequoia National Park.
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