MFI 2011: Building Urban Forestry Leaders
by Walt Warriner Photos by the MFI Teaching Team
MFI staff and participants experienced the Canopy Tree House, 50 feet (15.24 m) in the air, at the Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City, Nebraska.
The sixth Municipal Forestry Institute took place February 20-25 in Nebraska City, Nebraska, where the winter weather couldn’t have been more wel- coming. Urban forestry professionals came from a variety of different agencies around North America. Although they didn’t know each other at the beginning of the week, they all had one thing in common: the desire to learn leadership skills in the field of urban forestry.
This week-long program is like no other in our industry because it doesn’t focus on the technicalities of tree
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care. Rather, MFI teaches leadership skills, like how to work with varied personalities and how to adapt an urban forestry program to a fast-changing world. The goal of MFI is to cultivate future leaders in urban forestry, but the skills learned also help on a personal level. This program teaches critical skills that aren’t taught in college—skills that are learned on the job over the length of a career, sometimes though trial and error.
MFI has been strongly supported over the years by City Trees
