What to Do and What Not to Do

The Britton Fund Board of Directors has published a crucial guide to help homeowners and property managers properly care for fire-damaged trees, ensuring their restoration and preserving the essential environmental benefits they provide.

 

The guide, titled “Trees Damaged by Fire: What Not to Do and What to Do,” produced by The Britton Fund, Inc. offers expert advice on how to approach fire-damaged trees. Surviving trees play a key role in the recovery process, from improving air quality and reducing heat to preventing soil erosion. Understanding how to nurture these trees will help maintain their health and value long into the future.

WESTERN CHAPTER INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF ARBORICULTURE 

Tree Inventory Workshop

February 4, 2025 - Colma, CA
February 5, 2025 - Los Angeles, CA 

Join the Western Chapter ISA Consulting Arborist Committee for an in-depth workshop ideal for arborists, urban foresters, and anyone involved in tree management looking to enhance their skills and knowledge. Learn about the best practices for conducting thorough and accurate tree inventories, explore features that help streamline data to make informed management decisions, and gain insights from the challenges and solutions experienced by other professional in the field. Whether you're new to tree inventory software or looking to refine your existing practices, this session will provide valuable tools and insights to help you succeed.

ATTENTION YOUNG ARTISTS AND TREE LOVERS! 

Entries are now open for the 2025 Arbor Week Poster Contest!

Entry Due Date: February 7, 2025

Each year, California kicks off Arbor Week (March 7 – 14) with a Youth Poster Contest. During Arbor Week, we celebrate how trees make our neighborhoods cooler, healthier, and safer for everyone. Learn more about the contest at CaliforniaReLeaf.org and share it with young tree heroes in your community! 

TreePeople, a Southern California based nonprofit working to inspire, engage, and support planting and caring for trees, is offering a 1-month course (3 in-person and 4 virtual sessions) teaching new skills to view urban landscapes through climate adaptation lens. The course will apply theoretical principles of ecosystem ecology to examine climate challenges, socio-environmental inequities, and varying landscape types in the form of in-person experiences, online lectures, and discussions. Dates vary for in person and online sessions. The course costs $100. Space is limited and priority will be given to applications submitted before February 1, 2025.

This full-day event features experts and leaders in arboriculture, urban forestry, and environmental stewardship.

This practical, applied program guides arborists through the process of strategically planning, specifying, and implementing an objective-based pruning approach. It will make you a better arborist by showing you how to incorporate industry standards and ISA BMPs with current research and practice. The PPQ is the culmination of the commitment of the Florida Chapter ISA Pruning Credential Committee who are passionate about making trees more compatible with urban and suburban environments.

This 3-day course and exam is open to interested parties who meet the prerequisites (see Tree Risk Assessment Qualification Application Guide) and is limited to 20 arborists (first-come/first-served). The qualification consists of a 2-day educational course followed by a 1/2 day assessment that includes both a written and field component. It is required that you attend the course and successfully complete the assessment in order to receive this qualification.

Tree Care for Birds is hosting a workshop on the Wildlife Best Management Practices. Arborists have a unique connection with nature and wildlife in the urban forest. This six-hour workshop will focus on the best practices to act responsibly around wildlife and to navigate wildlife laws in California. This workshop includes an outdoor portion where participants will assess habitat value and search for signs of nesting wildlife as well as appreciate common wildlife species and habitat in an urban forest. By the end of the day, participants should have all the skills they need to be a Wildlife Trained Arborist.

En California las aves son protegidas por varias leyes, pero es información poco compartida.  Por esta razón, Tree Care for Birds (TC4B), creó un manual para ayudar a navegar responsablemente las leyes que impactan el trabajo de los arbolistas. Tener el conocimiento de prácticas apropiadas puede ser un reto. Por ello las organizaciones TC4B y Arboleros (comités de Western Chapter ISA) están impartiendo un taller que propone mejores prácticas para el manejo de árboles que están alineadas con la protección de aves y animales silvestres. 

Tree Care for Birds is hosting a workshop on the Wildlife Best Management Practices. Arborists have a unique connection with nature and wildlife in the urban forest. This six-hour workshop will focus on the best practices to act responsibly around wildlife and to navigate wildlife laws in California. This workshop includes an outdoor portion where participants will assess habitat value and search for signs of nesting wildlife as well as appreciate common wildlife species and habitat in an urban forest. By the end of the day, participants should have all the skills they need to be a Wildlife Trained Arborist.

This 3-day course and exam is open to interested parties who meet the prerequisites (see Tree Risk Assessment Qualification Application Guide) and is limited to 20 arborists (first-come/first-served). The qualification consists of a 2-day educational course followed by a 1/2 day assessment that includes both a written and field component. It is required that you attend the course and successfully complete the assessment in order to receive this qualification

WESTERN CHAPTER INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF ARBORICULTURE 

WCISA 91st Annual Conference and Trade Show

April 22-25, 2025 - Tucson, AZ

Full schedule will be available early 2025.

Registration will open mid-January.

SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPENEURS

Environmental Justice Thriving Communities  Region 9 Grantmaking Program

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that its 11 Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmakers, which serve as pass-through entities nationwide, are now accepting applications.

 

The EPA’s passthrough Grantmaker for California (Region 9) is Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE). They are now accepting applications on a rolling basis for the EPA’s Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Program (EJ TCGM). 

CALIFORNIA VOLUNTEERS

Partner Host Applications for 2025-26 California Climate Action Corps Fellowship Program

California Volunteers, Office of the Governor is now accepting host partner applications for the 2025-26 California Climate Action Corps Fellowship Program!

 Application Deadline: February 14, 2025

USDA FOREST SERVICE

USDA Forest Service Urban & Community Forestry

2025 Challenge Cost Share Grant Program

The USDA Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry program is seeking grant proposals that address urban and community forestry goals as stated in the National Ten Year Urban and Community Forestry Action Plan. 

This year’s Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) aims to address Goals 3 and 5 particularly which focus on cultivating diversity, equity and leadership within the urban forestry communities and improve urban and community forest management, maintenance, and stewardship. This includes projects that will identify or develop successful sustainable green workforce development programs for disadvantaged communities. Programs should have a clear path for establishment or advancement and implementation in disadvantaged communities across U.S. States, Native American lands, and U.S. Territories. Eligible applicants include non-profits, higher education institutions, federally-recognized tribal organizations, and local governments.

USDA FOREST SERVICE

Community Wildfire Defense Grants

The USDA Forest Service is accepting applications for the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program to assist at-risk communities, including tribes and Alaska Native Corporations, with planning for and mitigating wildfire risks. Now in its third year, this competitive program is funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Out of the up to $200 million available, individual grants of up to $250,000 can be used to develop and update community wildfire protection plans. Individual grants of up to $10 million can be used for wildfire resilience projects that implement community wildfire protection plans. Projects must be completed within five years of the award. The number of projects selected will be determined by available funding, which is up to $200 million.

Notices of funding opportunities are available on Grants.gov. Applications will be accepted until 11:59 p.m., Eastern Standard Time on Feb. 28, 2025. 

Applicants are strongly encouraged to develop proposals in consultation with state or Forest Service regional cooperative fire contacts listed in the Notices of Funding Opportunity.

CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Justice Action Grants Program

The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) recently announced the second round of grant funding for its Environmental Justice Action Grants Program. Download the Grant Guidelines (.pdf).

 

Unprecedented funding for Urban and Community Forestry is making an impact on our community canopy throughout the United States. With the US Forest Service committed to funding $1.5 billion dollars in tree projects, communities are poised to plant and care for more trees than ever before. However, there continues to be a lack of continuing funding for arboriculture education at all levels. 

As canopy increases, trees will need care. To meet that need, education about trees at all levels needs to increase. With this in mind and over a century of institutional knowledge, The Davey Tree Expert Company began the process of endowing a fund to address this funding gap for years to come. Launched in 2024, The Davey Tree Expert Company Community Arboriculture Education Grant Program (The Davey Fund) is a permanently restricted endowment fund of Tree Research and Education Endowment (TREE) Fund created to support community-based arboricultural education in the United States. 

Applications are now open and will be accepted through March 15, 2025. To apply, applicants will need to create or log in to the online application portal.

SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE

Urban Forest Improvement Grant Program

Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) recently announced a new funding opportunity called the Urban Forest Improvement Grant Program.  SFI’s Urban Forest Improvement Grant Program is designed to help organizations benchmark their urban or community forests against the SFI Urban and Community Forest Sustainability Standard. These grants support the assessment of current management practices, offering valuable insights into how sustainably these forests are managed, as well as a roadmap of opportunities for improvement.

The application process is open on a rolling basis until 11:59 PM Eastern Time on May 30, 2027, or until all funds are awarded.

Watsonville Wetlands Watch, based in Watsonville, is hiring aConservation Director (Apply by Feb. 14)

 

Friends of the Urban Forest, based in San Francisco, is hiring a Green Teens Manager and a Community Engagement Manager

 

Our City Forest, based in San Jose, is hiring a

Major Gifts Officer and a Climate Corps Service Member (September 2025 – August 2026)

 

TreePeople, based in Los Angeles, is hiring:

CAL FIRE is hiring a Seed Bank Manager (Senior Environmental Scientist) based out of Davis, CA

The Great Basin Institute, in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, is seeking Forestry Technicians in the Sierra Nevada region.  

The information presented in this 2017 analysis of the urban forest in San Diego, California can be used to support urban forest management programs and to inform policy and planning to improve environmental quality and human health in San Diego. The analysis also provides a basis for monitoring changes in the urban forest over time.

The Plan outlines strategies based on community input, data, and industry best practices to support the long-term health and improvement of Oakland's trees.

This article discusses a suite of unique restoration and maintenance strategies needed for designing urban ecosystems that are resilient to climate change and urban stressors. It highlights the importance that design and maintenance have in ensuring the success of urban restoration for increasing the servicing capabilities, reducing high costs of invasive species removal, and establishing resiliency in invasive species dominated communities. The study proposes fours practices to alter the resiliency landscape focusing on species pool selection, plant genotype selection, landscape connectivity, and low-intensity, high-frequency management

Certified Urban and Community Forester Credential

Society of American Forester's partnership with the California Urban Forests Council sprouted the future of this credential for professionals across the map. Together we had a vision for professionals in the urban and community forestry space, and now we are making strides to offer this certification to the workforce. The "Certified Urban and Community Forester" credential promotes the holistic nature of urban and community forestry that's focused on resource conservation across the canopy intersected with the complex and dynamic infrastructure and stakeholder ecosystem. Learn More