Coastal Region Urban Forester Update | by Cara Specht
Hi, I’m the new Coastal Region Urban Forester with the SC Forestry Commission. I started in the beginning of October.
This fall, the SCFC U&CF launched a self-assessment for a grant to enable communities to fund urban forestry management plans, tree inventories, tree canopy covers, tree risk assessments, storm mitigation plans, and/or green infrastructure plans. This was a great opportunity for me to encourage municipalities to complete a self-assessment in the Coastal Region. I reached out to a lot of city planners and was happy to hear back from many. These interactions are great starting points to building strong relationships with communities. I also started visiting designated Tree City USA Communities to get a tour of their town, learn about their projects, and what their next year will look like. I hope to continue to build new relationships (and hopefully have a few new designated Tree City USA communities), sustain and enhance our current relationships with municipalities throughout the Coastal Region.
On December 3rd, I spent my first Arbor Day in South Carolina speaking at the Town of Summerville’s 40th Anniversary of being a Tree City USA. The Town of Summerville hosted a tree giveaway and offered five different tree species for residents to choose from to plant in their yard. I’m also a resident of Summerville so I chose the fringe tree Chionanthus virginicus which I planted and cannot wait for it to grow and blossom in the back of my yard!
I graduated in 2016 from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) in Syracuse, NY. After I graduated, I served a 10-month AmeriCorps term with the NYC Parks Stewardship team. I led over 300 volunteers—youth groups, civic organizations, and corporate groups—to take care of the street tree beds throughout Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. Tree beds were filled with litter, severely compacted and in need of weeding. During 2 hour volunteer shifts, we cleaned these up and educated community members on how to be stewards for long term care and maintenance of the tree beds in their neighborhood. I also assisted with larger stewardship team volunteer events. There were 12 mass plantings of seedlings in natural areas throughout NYC in the Fall and Spring, removal of invasive species in several parks, and adding mulch to street trees. I worked with over 3000 volunteers during my AmeriCorps term and learned a lot about urban trees during my time there.
After NYC, I moved to Tallahassee, FL and worked as a Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Forester with the Florida Forest Service. I visited set plots across 15 counties in Northern Florida that were established by the USDA Forest Service on private and public lands. We collected tree data, forest health parameters, understory vegetation composition, habitat types, down woody material, land use changes, disturbances, and silvicultural practices. Every day I was out in the field. Most of them were spent in remote areas, swamps, pine stands and/or natural hardwood stands recording data and the impact by Hurricane Michael. Other days were spent in urban areas recording land use changes, development, and impervious surfaces.
My time with NYC Parks and the Florida Forest Service allowed me to work with a diverse group of people in a variety of forestry settings. Not every town or city in my region are alike. Some are more densely populated with limited tree bed space. Others are more rural and have more desirable conditions for trees in public spaces.
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