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/94460
Partners Updates State Coordinators Seeing the Urban Forest with New Eyes Story and photo by Paul D. Ries, Instructor and Extension Specialist with the Oregon State University College of Forestry my course involves distance education, my students come not only from campus, but also from throughout the U.S., Canada, and other countries. Ranging in age from 20 to 60, my students might be completing an online degree in natural resources, or they may just be taking my class to expand their knowledge and job opportunities. Twice each year, I teach an online urban for- estry course at Oregon State University. Because The course involves ten weekly modules that run the gamut of urban forestry topics. The heart of my course is an online discussion board where students are required to post their observations about the weekly content and to reply to other students' posts. At the end of the ten weeks, I ask them to share a "reflection essay" about what they learned during the quarter. From the first year, a pattern emerged—one I hadn't expected. My students reported seeing the urban forest with "new eyes." For some of them, it is a new revela- tion about the importance of trees; for others, they are seeing how well, or how poorly, the trees are cared for in their own community. Here are some excerpts from these reflection essays: "This class gave me a new sense of how important it is for people to have trees around them ... If I can teach even one person how to plant a tree properly, for instance, I will have affected that person for good, all the trees he or she will plant, and anyone they choose to teach that information to. Everyone can learn something new." "Urban forestry is so important to transform our cities into comfortable, healthy, and welcoming communities. Urban forestry is so important to repair part of the dam- age our civilization has created to our planet. Urban for- estry is so important to fight the Nature Deficit Disorder urban citizens suffer." "I learned so much information about trees in this class that will definitely serve me well in the future. I had no knowledge of proper planting or pruning techniques, and now I can't stop myself from quickly evaluating every tree I see ... I'm more focused on coastal management, but I feel like this class gave me knowledge I didn't even know I was lacking." "From my architectural background, I had some idea of 14 Sometimes we forget that urban forestry is a new concept to people. Here is Central Park in New York City, from a different perspective than you might have seen before. the benefits that trees had on buildings for heating and cooling—but I was amazed at the actual numbers. I think more people would be pro-tree if they truly understood how much they stand to gain. Another big surprise for me was size of the hole that actually needs to be dug for a tree to get the best start in life. I think it is safe to say that few people out there actually properly plant their trees. All in all, this course was very interesting and really made me stop and think about the trees around me." I don't believe that you have to teach at the university level to have this kind of impact on people. As urban foresters and municipal arborists, I think we all have a great opportunity, and even a duty, to educate people about the value and importance of the trees in our com- munities. My friend Andy Hillman made this point at a recent Municipal Forestry Institute. He commented that we often get accused of "preaching to the choir" when it comes to urban forestry. He rightly observes that if we can get the choir to spread our message of urban forestry, then that is time well spent. If my experience as a teacher is any guide, Andy is right on the money. I hope you are preaching to your choirs, too. City Trees