Treesilience, Legacy Project Award
The Legacy Project Award recognizes a member or
organization who has raised awareness, enhanced
urban forest management, or boosted appreciation
of urban trees or green infrastructure. In gratitude
for their innovative work and partnerships, the 2024
honoree was Treesilience, a national initiative imag-
ined and designed by Rachel Holmes while she was
with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), with assistance
from Josh Behounek of Davey Resource
Group. Treesilience is administered
nationally by TNC with generous funding
from the USDA Forest Service and in col-
laboration with strategic partner Davey
Tree Expert Company. A diverse network
of faith-based groups, nonprofits, educa-
tional institutions, and local communities
ensures success of the program.
Treesilience focuses on the removal
and replacement of dead or dying
trees, maintaining mature trees, and
preparing sites to enhance planting con-
ditions in underserved neighborhoods.
This is offered at no cost to homeowners, helping
create equitable access to healthier urban environ-
ments. Launched in 2020, Treesilience began with
a pilot project in Chicago's 8th and 9th Wards and
has since expanded to seven locations across the
U.S., including St. Louis, Missouri; Orlando, Florida;
Kansas City, Missouri; Charlotte, North Carolina;
and communities in Louisiana and Oregon. >>
ucfsociety.org 17
UCFS Recognizes 2024
Annual Award Winners!
The UCFS annual awards
ceremony is an opportunity
to recognize the great work
happening in urban forestry
today, and to honor some of our
most outstanding colleagues,
collaborators, and members.
Each person recognized at the UCFS 2024 Chicago
Conference Award Ceremony received a handsome
plaque to commemorate their accomplishments,
along with the Society's gratitude. The plaques were
a variety of ash, maple, elm, walnut, and cherry
crafted from urban wood from Milwaukee; they were
generously donated by Wudeward Urban Forest
Products and its president, Dwayne Sperber.
