Celebrating Arbor Day 2020

Welcome to “Arbor Month!” Gov. Jay Inslee officially proclaimed April 8, 2020 as Washington’s Arbor Day, and National Arbor Day is on Friday, April 24 this year. Traditional public gatherings to celebrate Arbor Day this spring are postponed throughout the state due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.  However, we can still use this time as …

Timely Tree Tips— ‘People First, Trees Second’

Today, the world faces a global pandemic. We are forced to live our lives very differently in this moment, and we are all reprioritizing. Just four short weeks ago, many of us came to work each day to tackle important projects or provide valuable services. Urban foresters are especially passionate about their work because they …

Faces of Urban Forestry

Daria Gosztyla recently joined the Washington State DNR Urban and Community Forestry Program as the Urban Forest Projects and Outreach Specialist. We’re excited for the experience, perspective, and enthusiasm she’s bringing to the position and program! Read more about Daria below. Favorite Tree: Tamarack (Larix laricina). This tree stopped me in my tracks and begged …

2020 Seminars, Now with Social Distancing!

2020 Seminar topic: “Urban Forest Pest Readiness” Under the circumstances, we can’t rely on the traditional face-to-face format for our scheduled seminars, so we are planning to hold all eight of the meetings virtually using on-line meeting software. And even though these are virtual and not place-based, we are still referring to each one as …

Arbor Day: the trees that mark our lives

From the oak that held a child’s first tree house, to the first sprout of a planted apple seed, to the smell of sweet magnolia in the spring air. The trees that we encounter can act as the pin points of our lives. Trees do not only mark moments in our lives but supply us …

Coordinator’s Corner — March

It has already been a busy year for the UCF program, and it looks like it won’t slow down, which is a good thing… Legislation for SHB2768 to provide funding for the Evergreen Community Act has taken precedence over all else this season. Thanks to DNR’s policy team and the bill sponsors, it is still …

The New and Improved American Grove

As you many of you may recall going back to 2018, DNR's Urban Forestry Program encouraged our program constituents to sign up for the American Grove, a website dedicated to the sharing of information between urban forestry professionals and tree enthusiasts across the United States. Unfortunately, shortcomings in the website's design and functionality were too …