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/566672
The 51st Annual International SMA Conference and Trade Show is right around the corner! Will we see you there? The conference and exhibitor/ sponsor committees have been hard at work finalizing the details for our exciting conference in Denver. We hope to see you at the pre-conference workshop on November 16th as we get a great tour of Denver and its urban forestry operations. In the evening of the 16th, we will have our annual Fun Walk, Run, or Watch event followed by the MFI reunion. The MFI reunion is open to all MFI grads and folks thinking about attending a future MFI. Our conference on November 17th is sure to be filled with a lot of great speakers. We hope all who attend are able to bring back some new ideas or knowledge to better their urban forestry programs back home. This year at the conference we will be having our annual banquet at lunchtime where we will be presenting awards, and I will be handing off the torch to the next president. Speaking of awards, will your community be designated an SMA-Accredited program at this year's conference? There is still time to apply for the SMA Accreditation Program, which is a great way to show the residents of your community and surrounding communities your commitment to excellence in municipal forestry. Lastly, SMA is always looking for great leaders. If you are interested in getting more involved with SMA, please reach out to Executive Director Jerri LaHaie or any of the executive board members. The executive board and I look forward to seeing many of you in Denver this November at the conference. It is going to be the "can't miss" municipal forestry event of the year! The calendar says it's fall, but at least here in the southeastern US, it still feels like summer. Much of the western part of our country has been on fire, literally, and many resources have been spent fighting the fires that have decimated our forests. We have mourned the loss of life and property claimed by the ravages of fire. In other parts of our country, we are fighting insects, disease, storms, and drought, all of which are taking a heavy toll on our trees. What are we to think, to say, to do? Some would say that this is just nature being cyclical, so what, not much we can do about it. But I think SMAers would not be in that choir. Regardless of our beliefs about climate change, government, or politics, we all agree that healthy trees are beneficial to our lives in so many ways. Regardless of our job titles, we are all in this together, trying our best to create and maintain healthy urban forests. We work hard, we stay up to date on the latest research, products, and services to help us in our jobs. We spend time and money to network with colleagues and industry partners. While we do a lot, it never seems to be enough, and it can be darned demor- alizing to feel like you are doing your best and not get- ting the results you want. So maybe it is time to think, say, and do things different- ly. What changes am I suggesting? Sorry, I don't have the answers. I am just stopping long enough to suggest that we need to ask the questions that might lead us to different results. That brings me to our annual con- ference, which is immediately before the Partners in Community Forestry Conference. If you aren't planning to come to Denver in November for the conference, you are missing an opportunity to join your fellow SMAers and the larger U&CF communi- ty in asking questions, in collaborating and networking, in finding new ways to tackle our problems. Even if you aren't able to join us in Denver, I hope you will stop long enough to ask what you could be doing differently, and engage via our listerve or forums with your ques- tions. Finding solutions always begins with asking ques- tions, with considering new ways of doing things, and with not accepting the results we already have. President's Message David Lefcourt Executive Director's Message Jerri J. LaHaie 4 City Trees