Released: March 15, 2004

Kansas Forest Service Training to Focus on Urban Green Spaces

MANHATTAN, Kan. – From city tree-board members to Master Gardeners, Kansans with a vested interest in trees will gather in Manhattan Tuesday, March 30, for the Kansas Forest Service’s annual Urban and Community Forestry training, based this year in and near the Holiday Inn.

“We’re really excited about the caliber of the program. Every session is something special,” said Eric Berg, KFS community forestry coordinator. “We’re also pleased that we still can offer the training at no cost. Because some sessions have limited seating, however, interested participants must preregister.”

Preregistered participants can sign in at the Holidome between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The training itself begins promptly at 1 p.m. and concludes at 5 p.m. It offers four concurrent sessions:

* Defining Reasonable Care: A Tree Risk Management Policy – presented by international expert Mark Duntemann, president of National Path Forestry Consultants, Inc.

“This topic’s important for both community policymakers and commercial arborists,” Berg said.

* Harvesting Urban Timber: New Life and Benefits From Urban Trees – led by a quartet that includes Sam Sherrill, author of “Harvesting Urban Timber: A Complete Guide”; Dayle Lewis, a chainsaw woodcarver and nationally known expert in harvesting community trees; Charley Pottorff of Wildcat Tree Service; and David Bruton, the KFS’s marketing and utilization specialist.

“Sherrill’s recently published book is quickly becoming the leading resource for specific ‘how-to’s’ on harvesting and utilizing trees from the community forest, to keep this valuable resource out of the local landfill,” Berg said.

* Landscaping the Downtown Area – given by University of Nebraska Extension landscape horticulturist Steven Rodie.

“He’s back by popular demand,” Berg said, “and will be building on the landscape design concepts he presented last year. He’ll be going into more detail, as well as discussing the importance of maintaining a strong ‘green’ infrastructure in the downtown area.”

* Nuts and Bolts of Tree Care – led by KFS foresters, covering all the “basics” from proper tree selection to tree pest identification.

This year, the event also includes an optional 5:30 p.m. training demonstration on diagnosing and assessing a defective tree. For participants, the one-hour session includes hands-on opportunities with diagnostic tools.

Kansans can get more information or preregister for the annual training by phone (785-532-3300) or e-mail (eberg@oznet.ksu.edu).

Co-sponsors for the event include Kansas State University Research and Extension, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, the Kansas Nursery and Landscape Association, the Kansas Forest Products Association, and the Kansas Arborists Association. The training qualifies for both certified arborist and certified forester credit.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Kathleen Ward
kward@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News