Message From The President

As I thought about what to share with our members for this Urban Forestry newsletter, I could not help but remark on what a marvelous season it has been for our flowering trees. I have had so many residents comment on how exceptionally beautiful their municipalities were this year, especially just in time for all of our state and local Arbor Day celebrations. It was a wonderful season for those who work so tirelessly all year on educating the public as well as planning, planting and maintaining our state tree populations.

We all are aware of the value of our community trees as detailed in our editor's article on Urban and Community Forestry in this newsletter (Page 4). Gloria Van Duyne prepared this article for a local paper and I asked her to include it in our newsletter as it is an excellent summary for us to share with our municipalities, organization and other individuals.

Since our last letter, much has occurred. On March 10, for the second year, both the NYS DEC and our Council had informational booths and attended the annual Forestry Awareness Day held at the Legislative Office Building in Albany. The purpose of this special day was to promote healthy forests and their value through wise utilization of this sustainable resource.

Our Web Site Committee has recommended various improvements which will be incorporated shortly. When these major revisions are put into place, please always feel free to submit any comments you may have. It is a member web site and we strive to make it as meaningful and helpful as possible.

Finally, Region 7's ReLeaf committee has been working very hard on finalizing our 16th annual conference which will be held at Cornell University in Ithaca on July 24th through July 26. I'm sure it will be a wonderful educational opportunity for us all.

Patricia Tobin, President