If you are interested in learning more about trees and are
willing to volunteer to help care for and
maintain the public trees in your town, then Citizen
Forester is for you!
The Cross Timbers Urban Forestry Council (CTUFC) is
accepting applications for the Citizen Forester 2015-16
training class now. Participants will receive 36 combined
hours of classroom instruction and �hands-on� field
training. Training sessions will be held in Denton
from 9 am to 4 pm on one Wednesday each month from September
to January.
Entering its 9th year, the Citizen Forester program presents
a wonderful opportunity for individuals to become skilled at
planting, pruning, and maintaining trees in an urban
environment. It also provides interested persons with the
chance to get involved with local city and county agencies
and help their community take care of its public trees.
Topics include identification of recommended native and
adapted trees, proper hands-on planting and pruning
experience, benefits of trees, tree risk assessment,
conducting tree inventories, common insect and disease pests
of trees, and other relevant urban forestry topics.
With the skills acquired through the program and through the
guidance of parks and recreation professionals, Citizen
Foresters are making lasting contributions to community
forests throughout North Texas. In exchange for their
training, Citizen Forester volunteers provide a minimum of
25 hours of community service to their local town, city or
county during the first year, and 20 hours of community
service annually, towards projects that involve trees on
public property. In addition, you are required to earn 5
hours of continuing education each year, which also count
towards your 20 hours of community service.
Since the program�s inception in 2006, Citizen Foresters
have proven to be an invaluable resource to municipalities
striving to stay abreast of public tree management. In a
relatively short time period, these dedicated volunteers
have provided thousands of volunteer hours towards:
o Planting trees
o Conducting tree inventories of local parks
o Maintaining the tree inventory of a municipal tree farm
which is used for neighborhood tree planting programs
o Pruning trees growing in street medians and along major
commercial corridors managed by park and recreation
professionals
o Staffing educational outreach and tree give-away events
o Completing urban forestry filing and data entry projects
o Inspecting parade routes for low limbs overhanging the
street.
The training class is limited, with each county in the
17-county Cross Timbers region guaranteed at least one slot.
There is $50 registration fee upon acceptance into the
program to help pay for related program expenses. Limited
scholarships are available. Participants are also
responsible for out-of-pocket travel and lunch expenses. The application, training schedule and an
informational brochure are below. For
more information,
contact
us.
Citizen Foresters learning and then conducting tree inventory at
a city park.
