City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/30662
I was hosted by Milwaukee Forestry Services Manager David Sivyer. I found the exchange a significant experience not only from a professional point of view, but from a per- sonal one; in a certain way, it can be compared to an inter- national student exchange program. Living for a week with a person who is basically a stranger, with whom you have just exchanged some e-mails, can be a gamble, but in my opinion this is one of the strong points of this program. An Italian Arborist in Milwaukee L by Dr. Gianmichele Cirulli, Urban Forest Manager, Turin, Italy Photos by Scott Baran, City of Milwaukee Forestry Division ast October I spent a week in the City of Milwaukee courtesy of the SMA Arborists Exchange Program. with my broken English. During my stay, I experienced great hospitality and the people I met were all very friend- ly and helpful. This is true above all when considering its impact on work. Spending a week in close contact with foreign colleagues, visiting worksites, and discussing problems and solutions on the spot cannot be compared to congress/workshop attendance, which is usually much shorter and more superficial. Besides the warm welcome I received from David and his family, the colleagues from Milwaukee Forestry Services were very kind and friendly to me since the first moment I met them, and I would like to take the opportunity to thank them for the time they gave me and for putting up What shall I say about Milwaukee? It is a pleasant city with residential areas and wide greenspaces that create a relaxing atmosphere. Lake Michigan is a distinctive feature of the landscape; this lake has nothing to do with the Italian or European concept of lake: its appearance, its surface area, and even its smell resemble those of the sea. As in the majority of American cities, in Milwaukee you find a centre with its main business area (downtown) and the areas outside the centre of the city where people live (the suburbs). The urban landscape is an important feature of Milwaukee, and its street trees, boulevards, and greenspaces make it a very nice city. Milwaukee contains more than 3.4 million trees; street trees (approximately 200,000) are mostly in residential areas and usually don’t exceed 10-15 meters (32 to 49 feet) in height, while big trees, the so-called veterans, are mainly present in parks. Now I would like to consider the main differences between the organization and the activities of the Urban Forest Management Department of Turin, Italy, and that of Forestry Services in the City of Milwaukee. First, unlike my department, Milwaukee Forestry Services uses an in-house approach; the majority of forestry activities (design, planning, and management) are done by staff working within the Department of Public Works. Administrative staff, forest planners, some technicians and managers work in the headquarters, while other technicians and gardeners work in three different territo- rial units. In my opinion, this kind of organization involves both advantages and disadvantages: On the one hand it enhances cooperation between technicians and garden- ers; on the other, it could create a sort of barrier between the headquarters and the local units. Moreover, the staff might not feel part of the same structure. The first unit I visited was the repair garage, where four people attend to machine repair and maintenance in- house. Despite a budget and staff reduction they are highly motivated and do their job with great efficiency. Gianmichele Cirulli and Milwaukee Forestry Services Manager David Sivyer in front of the City’s largest remaining elm street tree 8 I would like to underline that I found the people working in Milwaukee Forestry Services, from forest planners to City Trees