July 2019 Note from the Chairs

Summer 2019

We hope this finds you beating the summer heat, whether on vacation in a national or state forest or enjoying the shade of street trees. The SUFC Steering Committee convened in Washington, D.C in June, for an in-person meeting along with a networking reception that gave us the opportunity to catch up with steering committee members and other colleagues in the D.C. area.

Good news! Our grant from the USDA Forest Service has been extended for another three years. These and other non-federal funds ensure we can continue to convene and mobilize our network to foster thriving communities through healthy urban and community forests.

Member Update

A bittersweet goodbye is heading our way come August. Janette Davis, Assistant Director of the Forest Service’s Cooperative Forestry Program, is leaving the Forest Service’s Washington Office to begin her new position as Deputy Regional Forester in the Southern Regional Office. Davis is a member of the SUFC Steering Committee and has played a crucial role in moving our policy agenda along.

In a letter to Steering Committee members, Davis noted that she has been in DC working within the Urban and Community Forestry policy arena for nine years. She writes, “It has been an extremely rewarding experience and with you as partners, we’ve accomplished much and have raised the profile of Urban and Community Forestry within the agency and throughout the country.”

Davis’ new role begins in early August in Atlanta, Georgia. Her successor has yet to be named, but Davis knows that the UCF Program will remain a top priority for them and the Forest Service when they are chosen. Members of SUFC will miss her dearly, but we wish her the best in her new endeavors and look forward to seeing what she accomplishes in the future!

New Urban Forestry Resources

The USDA Forest Service, in conjunction with the SUFC Urban Research Working Group, just released a list of researchers working in the field of urban and community forestry. The list includes detailed research interests of Forest Service researchers throughout the country, and is a valuable resource for anyone looking to connect on specific topic areas within urban forest research.

Policy Update

New Policy Working Group Co-Chair: Dana Karcher

We’re pleased to announce that Dana Karcher, International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) board member, will be our new Policy Working Group Co-Chair. She joins Danielle Watson of the Society of American Foresters, and succeeds Rebecca Turner of American Forests.

As a Certified Arborist and Municipal Specialist, Dana has spent her career—including her current role as project developer for with Davey Resource Group and positions with the Arbor Day Foundation, among others—working with communities across the U.S. developing projects such as tree inventories, management plans, urban forest master plans, and other tree management related projects. She has worked closely with planners, architects, engineers, landscape architects, elected officials, and community groups to increase awareness of the importance of trees and to recognize the urban forest as a valuable resource. A recent transplant to Texas, Dana has a degree in Political Science from California State University.

Roots and Branches

A new study finds that the cheapest and most effective way to fight climate change is to plant trees — a trillion of them. At that scale, over the decades they could absorb nearly 830 billion tons of CO2, about as much as humans have put into the atmosphere over the past 25 years.

Sincerely,

Mark Garvin and Jennifer Judd Hinrichs
SUFC National Co-Chairs