Days of Planet Past Up until the 1970s there was no EPA, no Clean Water Act nor a Clean Air Act. It was perfectly legal to unendingly spew toxic smoke into the air and dump pernicious waste into rivers and streams. But the tides were turning, a movement was growing that would force environmental issues…
Last week I was doing field work for a client and came across a large white oak. The tree was not in the limit of disturbance (it was about 40′ away), but the local ordinance called for it be called out in the report. The tree was very large (53″ in diameter) with an elliptical…
Our colleague Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne and his team at the University of Vermont Spatial Analysis Lab presented on An Object-Based Approach to Statewide Land Cover Mapping at the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 2014 Conference in Louisville, KY. Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed a bill in 2013 to keep Maryland at 40% tree canopy…
We just finished hosting the monthly call between researchers working in US Forest Service Research & Development Urban Research. As you can see from the link, these people spend a lot of time answering questions related to people + trees in cities. Sometimes when people think of the US Forest Service, they think of large…
Thanks to all those that attended today’s webinar on managing trees during construction. We talked about different reasons for managing trees during construction; we discussed the American National Standard for tree management during construction (ANSI A300 Part 5); and we reviewed some of the provisions of ANSI A300 Part 5. A key point is the…
Did you know that there are competitions for tree climbers? The International Society of Arboriculture has chapters all over the world. Those chapters hold tree climbing competitions where arborists compete to be the top climber in their chapter, and chapter competitors compete for the international crown. Today I attended the Mid-Atlantic Chapter, International Society of…
I had a great day today spending some time with Dr. Jason Grabosky’s (Rutgers) ecology class on a field tour in Washington, DC. Our first stop was a visit with entomologist Dr. Mike Raupp (University of Maryland) who talked to us about the importance of biodiversity and the need to maintain all trophic levels in…
Last week, the Sustainable Urban Forests Coalition celebrated 10 years of working to: Increase tangible support for urban forests on a national, regional and local level; Educate diverse audiences about the value and need for healthy trees in cities; and Network and leverage resources and knowledge among a growing community of organizations promoting healthier, more vibrant cities. Members…
Today Dr. Lara Roman from the USFS Philadelphia Urban Field Station visited TreeBaltimore to share her research on urban tree mortality. Dr. Roman has performed meta-analysis on a variety of studies on urban tree mortality. The findings? Well, we learned a great deal, but the bottom line is, like with people, we need to invest…
