TREEmail, an update form the VT Urban and Community Forestry Program
NEW! Communities Caring for Canopy Grants
To support local urban & community forestry efforts  
Rutland  TREEage
Volunteers with TREEage in Rutland are working on increasing canopy cover at strategic locations for water quality improvements.

We are excited to announce a new grant program for 2013 -  Communities Caring for Canopy! Up to $40,000 will be available. Two grant categories will support the development of sustainable urban and community forestry programs at the local level:

  
- the Caring for Canopy
- the Canopy Mini
  

Those familiar with the previous grant program, Trees for Local Communities, will recognize a slightly different focus with the new grant offerings. These grants should be looked at as community seed money to help communities care for canopy by taking necessary actions to move their program towards developing and sustaining a community-wide tree program. These grants allow for multiple program components (tree planting, tree inventory, tree maintenance, plan development, public outreach, and program development) to be merged into one grant application. This allows communities the flexibility to act on more than one program element at a time, and to assist in building necessary support and capacity for program sustainability. 

Learn More


Emerald Ash Borer is Coming
Is your community ready? 

EAB_PreparednessHow many ash trees are in your town center or along your roads? When they start dying, who will treat or remove those that threaten public safety? Will they be replaced? Can you afford to manage them? Can you afford not to?

 

The emerald ash borer is a non-native insect that attacks all species of ash native to Vermont and has already killed millions of ash trees from Michigan to NY. Unless treated with insecticides, most trees attacked by EAB die within 2-4 years. Experience in other states has shown that once EAB is detected in an area, more detections follow quickly and loss of ash trees increases rapidly over a few short years. Is your community ready?

Learn More


Developing Tree Ordinances and Policies
A new tool to support a healthy community forest
ordinanceHow does your municipality define a hazardous tree? What are your town's specifications for new tree plantings? Are there standards according to which public trees must be maintained in your community? 
  
These are examples of questions that can be addressed in a tree ordinance or policy, a tool that communities can use to attain and support healthy and well-managed urban & community forests.  
 
The Vermont Urban & Community Forestry Program has recently released its Guide to Tree Ordinances and Policies for Vermont Municipalities to give detailed information on the benefits and components, and to aid in the development

Join the Front Line of Defense Against Tree Pests
Become a Forest Pest First Detector
Do you enjoy spending time outdoors? Are you concerned about the health of Vermont's woodlands? Do you want to learn more and be on the front line of defense against tree-killing pests?

Three highly invasive forest pests - the emerald ash borer, Asian longhorned beetle and hemlock woolly adelgid, have the potential to pack a crushing blow to Vermont's woodlands and forest-based industries and we need your help!  Join a crew of committed volunteer Forest Pest First Detectors.  

The Forest Pest First Detector Program provides volunteers with online, classroom and field training on:

         Pest biology, impacts and identification

         Screening protocol and sample collection

         Management options

         Don't Move Firewood Campaign & outreach tools
 

The next in-person trainings will be held on the following dates:First Detector Sign

May 18th, 9:30-4:30 (rain date May 19th)
 
Northwoods Stewardship Center, E. Charleston

June 8th, 9:30-4:30 (rain date June 9th)
 
Merck Forest & Farmland Center, Rupert

For more information or to sign up: visit our website, call: 1-866-860-1382 (toll free in VT) or 802-656-7746,  email Caitlin Cusack, program coordinator.


Flower Show Recap 
Visitors Share How They Care for Canopy

flower showWe were there! And we asked people that stopped by to talk trees and to share how they care for canopy and to help our tree leaf out. Here are just a few of the responses.  

 

How do you Care for Canopy:

 

- "Educate others on proper pruning and planting techniques, and NO MULCH VOLCANOS!"  

- "Work with my town to keep canopy trees along our roads"

- "Correct defective roots" 

- "Being able to teach kids that trees are important!"
- "Plant more trees"


Students in the Urban Forest
Spring projects focus on healthy and vibrant forestsStudent_statehouse
This spring semester, twenty-two University of Vermont students are working to increase awareness and promote the health of Vermont's urban and community forests through four service-learning
projects: 
  • An assessment of the 14-acre forest behind the State House in Montpelier, including a complete inventory, wildlife monitoring with camera traps (pictured above), and timber and carbon storage/sequestration values. Students from Montpelier High School will also be writing interpretive pieces about the State House forest and free guided tours will be held for the general public and legislature at 12:30pm and 3:30pm on Wednesday, April 10th.
  • Inventory and assessment of over 700 ash trees along streets in neighborhoods of South Burlington;
  • An exploration into the possibility of UVM becoming a Tree Campus USA, which is a sister program of Tree City USA, administered by the Arbor Day Foundation; and
  • A project focused on telling "the story" of Vermont town greens and town forests using photography, videography, and interviews. 
To learn more about these projects, or to propose a student project for the fall semester, contact our Community Involvement Coordinator, Elise Schadler

Forest Pests Facebook Debut

Look Up Vermont!

ALB 

Stay Informed: Like and Look Up!

 


QUICK LINKS

About us
Library
Staff
Urban & Community Forestry Council
 


plant live grow 

 

TREEmail is brought to you by the Vermont Urban and Community Forestry Program, an initiative of the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation in partnership with the University of Vermont Extension. Visit our website, WWW.VTCOMMUNITYFORESTY.ORG. TREEmail is made possible in part by the USDA Forest Service, State and Private Forestry.
 
IN THIS ISSUE
NEW: Canopy Grants
EAB is Coming
New Tool
Vermont Flower Show
Spring Student Projects
Pest Facebook Debut
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Winter Webinars

Third Wednesday of the Month. Two more left this spring.

 

April 17th
Community Gravel Beds for Bare Root Planting
Gary Johnson and Chad Giblin, University of Minnesota.

May 15th
Destructive Invasive Tree Pest's Are Headed our Way: Is Your Community Ready?
Mark Whitmore, Cornell University, Dept. of Natural Resources.
 

Sign Up!
 

Volunteer Appreciation Events 

Thank you volunteers!

 

April 24, 5-7 pm

Cooking with Maple Syrup

St. Albans. Join us as we celebrate you and the fruits of the sugar maple tree with UVM Extension Maple expert George Cook.

 

May 22, 5-7 pm

Big Trees of Brattleboro

Join County Forester Bill Gunther for a tour of some of Brattleboro's most noble big trees.

 

June 5, 5-7 pm

Tour the Butternut and Chestnut Orchard

Brandon. Join butternut canker expert and retired UVM professor, Dale Bergdhal and Chris Casey of Green Mountain National Forest.

 

June 12, 5-7:30 pm. 
Guided wildflower walk at Eshqua Bog Natural Area

  
BOB! Event
April 2, 6-8 pm
Tree Care Basics
645 Pine Street, Burlington
Branch Out Burlington, Burlington's (BOB!) is hosting a free workshop and is open to anyone interested in learning more about basic tree ID, maintenance (pruning, staking, mulching, etc.), and urban forest stewardship.
For more information contact Marty Waldron at [email protected] or 802.658.0472.
  
May 22
Green and Sustainable VT
Stay tuned for more information at www.vtalsa.org
  

MEET A TREE STEWARD: 

Sarah Hoffmeier

SOUL Class 2010

sarah

During the growing season on Wednesday nights, you can find Sarah in downtown Montpelier, hose in hand, watering the street trees. Meet Sarah

FEATURE TREES  
Just like looking at what's new in seed catalogues for the vegetable garden, it's fun to see the new tree introductions available each year. Below is the new lineup from J. Frank Schmidt and Sons.

- Armstrong Gold™ Maple, Acer rubrum

Koelreuteria paniculata
- MaacNificent™ Maackia, Maackia amurensis
- Afterburner™ Tupelo, Nyssa sylvatica
Quercus robur x Q. alba
 
Need help selecting a tree? Try using Vermont's Tree Selection Guide

STAY CONNECTED 

Vermont Grove
Become a member and join the conversation
 

 

VTInvasives E-News

Sign up for the latest invasive pest news

 

Community Tree Groups on Facebook 
Branch Out Burlington! and Hartford's Trees Matter are using social media - 'Like' them

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