Southern Urban and Interface Forests - What's New

In 2014, Urban Forestry South developed and beta tested a new urban forest sustainability and management audit checklist and process (collectively referred to as an "audit system") at Agnes Scott College, a small woman's liberal arts college in Decatur, GA. Agnes Scott was a great location to try out this new system because it is a Tree Campus USA. This audit system is designed to provide a framework for internal (ad-hoc) audits by program managers or for independent evaluations by an external lead auditor and audit team.

Visit our newest form of communication - the Leaves of Change Weekly. This Wordpress site includes informational posts about upcoming conferences, Center activities, links to related articles, job announcements, and much more. You can sign up for the weekly to bi-weekly newsletter on the site at: www.leavesofchangeweekly.org

Across the South, rapid urbanization is transforming previously rural areas and creating new environmental challenges. Desoto County sits in the northwestern corner of Mississippi, across the state line from the city of Memphis. Since 1970, the county has experienced an increase in population of 430 percent, growing from 36,000 people in 1970 to 159,000 in 2010. Along with the population growth, urban development, roads, and traffic have increased tremendously and introduced serious air and water quality problems to the traditionally agricultural county.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has included Desoto County with Memphis in an ozone “non-attainment” area, meaning that ozone emissions are above allowable limits set by federal regulation. Ground level ozone, the main ingredient in smog, can trigger asthma attacks and causes lung damage. The ruling will likely mean that the state will have to take expensive actions to reduce pollution emissions from cars and commercial/industrial sources.

One group, led by the county extension director, Joy Anderson, is hoping that the urban tree canopy can play a part in the solution, and return Desoto County to attainment status. Working with Eric Kuehler, technology transfer specialist for Urban Forestry South, Desoto County conducted a series of iTree analyses including iTree Eco, Canopy and Vue. Using local volunteers and forestry students from Mississippi State University to collect the data, the county assessed over 250, 1/10th acre plots randomly located within five land class categories. The data allowed for an assessment of the structure, function, and value of the urban forest in terms of size and make-up of the urban canopy and its role in removing air pollution and sequestering carbon. 

PollinatorLIVE is offering a free web seminar for teachers, administrators, and others on “Student Achievement and Outdoor Education” on Tuesday, October 12 from 3 to 4 p.m. through the National School Boards Association. For information, go to http://pollinatorlive.pwnet.org/teacher/seminars.php and to register go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/StudentAchievementOutdoorEducation.

This is an online web seminar presenting information about the positive impact that outdoor learning has on student achievement. Lifestyle changes over the past decade have had a profound affect on student health, activities, habits, and interests. School administrators, teachers, parents, and public health officials are growing increasingly concerned at the rising incidences of childhood obesity, juvenile diabetes, and related health problems. In contrast, the statistics about young people learning in the outdoors are very positive. George Mason University Assistant Professor Laurie Harmon, USDA Forest Service Urban and Community Program Specialist Mike Rizo, and Washington, D.C. Principal Dr. Grace Reid will present information on the benefits of gardening and outdoor education.

This fall the Southern Fire Exchange (http://www.southernfireexchange.org/), a Joint Fire Science sponsored program dedicated to providing the latest fire science information to communities and practitioners across the South, will present a series of webinars on topics related to wildland fire and natural resource management.  The current schedule is as follows: 
 

Using the Southern Fire Exchange Resource Center
September 28, 2011, 12:00-1:00 p.m. Eastern
 
Using Smoke Prediction Models for Prescribed Burning Planning
October 19, 2011, 12:00-1:00 p.m. Eastern
 
Prescribed Fire and the Public: Myths and Realities
November 16, 2011, 12:00-1:00 p.m. Eastern
 
Interagency Fuel Treatment Decision Support System
December 14, 2011, 12:00-1:00 p.m. Eastern
 
To register and/or learn more about these webinars visit:
http://www.southernfireexchange.org/ProDev/Webinars.html
 
For updates from the Southern Fire Exchange, follow their Twitter account:
http://twitter.com/SEFireScience

Saturday, May 21st is National Walk in the Woods Day, an event in celebration of the International Year of the Forests and coordinated by the American Forest Foundation. Consider helping youth and adults alike to discover a forest and learn about its importance by participating in, or leading, a “walk in the woods.”
 

Click here to learn more about this event. To learn more about the International Year of the Forests click here.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 11:00 AM (Eastern)

The next Urban Natural Resources Institute Informational Webcast will take place on April 20th and will provide an overview of social networking tools to communicate and develop new audiences for urban natural resource programs and outreach.This session will be presented by Melanie R. Kirk, Assistant Professor & Extension Urban Forestry Specialist, Texas AgriLife Extension Service. 

 http://www.unri.org/webcasts/#social

We will have a booth at the Kanapaha Spring Garden Festival in Gainesville, Florida this weekend, March 26-27.. This festival features about 200 booths offering plants, landscape displays, garden accessories, arts and crafts, educational exhibits, and foods. Also featured are a walk-through butterfly conservatory, children's activities area, live entertainment and auctions, both live and silent.

For more information visit: http://www.gardenfestival.org/
 

January 20, 2011
1:00 - 2:00pm EST
National Webcast

With emissions regulations on the horizon in the U.S., there is rising interest in the carbon sequestration and storage functions of urban trees. How does this unique function present a potential funding opportunity for municipal or nonprofit organizations? Carbon markets deal in the buying and selling of credits for emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. Trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store the carbon in their trunks, branches, leaves, and roots. Local community groups engaged in restoring urban tree canopy may have a valuable role to play in carbon markets by developing or participating in mitigation and offset projects.

Register for the free webcast here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/bbls_11jan20

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly designated 2011 as International Year of Forests (IYOF). This designation provides an excellent platform to increase awareness of the connections between healthy forests, ecosystems, people, societies, and economies.

Additional information can be found at the UN website: http://www.un.org/en/events/iyof2011/.

In our latest InterfaceSouth Update we focus on recent research, news, literature, websites, and events related to fire in the interface.