Conference Targets Creating a Storm-Resilient Community Forest

Thunderstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes can do significant damage to trees across Alabama. Trees in towns and cities are often especially vulnerable because of the stresses of an urban environment.

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the United States Forest Service are sponsoring a three-day conference, “Weathering Future Storms: Steps to a Storm-Resilient Community Forest,” September 8 through 10 at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center in Mobile.

Landscape professionals and arborists with municipalities as well as those working in the private sector will find the conference beneficial, says Beau Brodbeck, a regional Extension forestry agent, who is coordinating the event.

“The conference is packed with nationally known speakers and industry professionals who will share the latest research as well as providing insight into new management techniques,” he says.

Brodbeck says a preconference workshop on September 8 will be hands-on focusing on visual tree analysis and evaluation of defects above and below ground.
Presentations September 9 and 10 will address how professionals can prepare their urban forests for future storms and how to address the aftermath of storms.

“One step in preparing for storms is to select and plant the right trees,” says Brodbeck. “But there is much more to designing and maintaining storm-resilient community forests than just tree selection, and speakers will be addressing many of those topics.”

Full conference registration is $85 and the preconference workshop is $25. Continuing education credit will be given for both the preconference workshop and the conference.

The advance registration deadline is September 7. Register online at https://ssl.acesag.auburn.edu/conference/ucfstorm2008/.

For more information, contact Brodbeck at brodbam@aces.edu or
at (251) 937-7176.

Posted by lawremc at August 13, 2008 09:56 AM | TrackBack