Alabama Urban Forestry Associa on

Plantings Arbor Day Edition March 2016

Whereas trees are vital to the quality of life of all of Alabama's

citizens, and

Whereas The State of Alabama celebrates Arbor Week the last full week in February each year and

Whereas the Alabama Urban Forestry Association is the statewide organization dedicated to helping people and trees live together in

harmony and

Whereas the AUFA serves as a training resource to volunteers and professionals across the State and

Whereas the AUFA is the organization in the State that serves as a clearinghouse for information related to trees and community tree

programs and

Whereas the City of Jacksonville, Alabama has demonstrated an exemplary commitment to urban forestry and has verified their Urban Forestry

program to the AUFA, now

Therefore be it known that I, Robert Bentley, Governor of the State of Alabama, do hereby declare the City of Jacksonville, Alabama as the

Official Arbor Day Community for Alabama for 2016 and I encourage all Alabama communities to follow Jacksonville’s example by planning,

planting, managing and celebrating their Urban Forestry resources.

*For more information and photos of the Jacksonville event, please see page 7.

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Above: Arbor Day Celebration at Mountain Brook Ele-mentary . Bottom right: The City of Anniston held it’s

Arbor Day Celebration on Thursday, February 25th, at Historic Zinn Park. Sponsored by the City of Anniston Parks & Recreation Department, and Alabama Power.

Arbor Day Celebrations Around Alabama

Crestline Elementary Poster Winners

Arbor Day in Mobile Submitted by: Gregory Hodgen, Alabama Power Company Mobile Celebrated Arbor Day on 6/25/15 in Tri-Centennial Park, 2121 Lake Drive, Mo-bile. There were several dead and diseased oak trees removed, the crowns were raised to improve visibility in the park as well as public safety, and a large pine tree that was entangled in the power lines was removed and replaced with a Camellia.

This was a group effort with Alabama Power Vegetation Management group, RDA Ser-vices, Asplundh Tree Experts, Townsend Tree, and the City of Mobile Urban Forestry Group.

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Arbor Day in Hoover Submitted by Colin Conner, City of Hoover

The City of Hoover held its 18th annual Arbor Day celebration on March 5 at Aldridge Gardens. The event was hosted by the Hoo-ver Beautification Board. 13 different native species of trees were given away to local residents and nine 4th grade students from Hoover Public Schools were honored for their Arbor Day essay writing skills. The theme of this year’s Arbor Day essay contest was, “The Importance of Trees to the City of Hoover.” Each win-ning student read his or her essay to the Arbor Day crowd and was then presented with a gift pack from local retailers. At the conclu-sion of the formal program, the crowd ventured onto the Aldridge Gardens grounds to plant a native but somewhat rare Frankliniana seedling in honor of Arbor Day. Aldridge Gardens Executive Director Rip Weaver was responsible for this very unique selection. Mayor Gary Ivey and other Hoover elected officials were on hand to participate in the Arbor Day celebration.

Chic-fil-A cow ‘gets his tree on’ in Hoover!

Held at Aldridge Gardens, AUFA Council Members Colin Conner and Birgit Kibelka helped families pick out trees

for their homes.

Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey and Beautification Board members at the City’s 18th annual Arbor Day celebration.

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Fifth Grade Student Wins Alabama Arbor Day Poster Contest Submitted by David West, Poster Contest Coordinator Mia Dunlap, a fifth grade student at Crestline Elementary in Mountain Brook, has won the state’s 2016 Arbor Day State Poster Contest. She was presented with $50, a one-year AUFA mem-bership and other prizes for her winning poster, designed around the contest theme “Trees Are Terrific...Inside and Out!”. Some 2,083 students in 99 classrooms in 25 schools participated in the contest. Governor Bentley’s Office and Secretary of State John Merrill hosted a tree planting ceremony with Mia and contest runners up on the Capitol grounds in Montgomery, Alabama, on Wednesday, February 24th, at 1:00 pm. Mia gave a short speech entitled, “What Arbor Day Means to Me,” and she received an Arbor Week Proclamation signed by Governor Bentley. The Alabama Arbor Day Poster competition is sponsored by the Alabama Urban Forestry Association, Alabama Cooperative Ex-tension System, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Ala-bama Power Company, Legacy, Inc., Auburn University School of Forestry & Wildlife Sciences, Secretary of State John Merrill, and Governor Bentley’s office. Two runners-up were also recognized in the Alabama contest. They are 2nd place winner, Allie Polzin, Goldsmith Schiffman Ele-mentary, Huntsville, and 3rd Place winner Clara Keener, Monte Sano Elementary, Huntsville. In addition to their cash awards, each student received other prizes provided by contest sponsors. Educational materials are included. The Alabama Arbor Day Poster Contest originated in 1997. More information about the Alabama Arbor Day Poster Contest is avail-able by contacting David West at (256) 237-1621 or on the web at www.aces.edu/Calhoun/arborday. The poster theme and as-sociated lesson plans change each year.

1st Place - Mia Dunlap Crestline Elementary School

Mountain Brook

2nd Place - ALlie Polzin Goldsmith Schiffman Elementary

School, Huntsville

3rd Place—Clara Keener Monte Sano Elementary School,

Huntsville

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Scenes from the Tree Planting Ceremony at the State Capitol

Submitted by: David West, Poster Contest Coordinator

It was a cool, windy day in Montgomery. Following the tree planting, the event was moved inside for photos.

Poster winners with the Miss Alabama Woodlands Scholarship Program Queens

Stacey Little of Legacy, Partners in Environmental Education presents gifts to the winners.

Jason Cooley, Alabama Power Company presents gifts to the winners.

“Little Gem” Magnolia was the requested tree this year. From SD Walker Nursery, Wellington.

From left: Jeana Ross, Early Childhood Education Secretary, 1st place winner Mia Dunlap, and Kayla Farnon, Press Secretary to

Secretary of State John Merrill

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Above: Conservation Club students from Simmons Middle School talk Arbor Day history around their new

Eastern redbud.

Above: Hoover High students proud of their new Arbor Day baldcypress. 

Above: Riverchase Elementary students line up to help plant their Arbor Day crabapple tree.

Above: Brock’s Gap Middle School students celebrate Arbor Day with their new nuttall oak. Above: South Shades Crest Elementary students gather

to talk trees.

Hoover’s Landscape Architecture and Urban Forestry Division and Hoover Beautification Board also cele-brated Arbor Day at local public schools. The school

celebration period ran from 2/22/16 to 3/11/16 . Eight schools held celebrations. Students and teachers assisted with planting larger B&B trees on campus, with the goal of replacing missing, dead

or declining trees. The eight schools that participated this year were Hoover High, Deer Valley Elementary,

Simmons Middle, Shades Mountain Elementary, South Shades Crest Elementary, Brock’s Gap Middle,

Cross Roads School, Rocky Ridge Elementary and Riverchase Elementary. The 2-3” caliper B&B trees

planted at the schools were graciously donated by Al-abama Power Company.

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Jacksonville - Alabama’s 2016 Arbor Day Community! Submitted by: Nicholas Jackson, Alabama Power Company

The annual Arbor Day and Tree Give-Away event for Jackson-ville took place on February 26th at the City’s historic downtown square. Alabama Power and the Alabama Forestry Commission provided various species of bare-root seedlings for this event. These included Red Maple, Chinquapin Oak, Chinese Pistache, Strawberry Bush, and Chickasaw Plum to name a few. The Jack-sonville Tree Commission, local Master Gardeners, and JSU groundskeepers also made this event possible and successfully doled out over 3,000 trees.

Arbor Day is celebrated by many countries around the world. It’s believed to have its origins from a Spanish village in the year 1594. Throughout its history, the celebration has been about preservation and planting of trees and about educating the public on the multiple values and uses of trees. The South Eastern U.S. is one of the breadbaskets of the world for tree density. Alabama ranks 3rd behind Georgia and Oregon with a record high 23 million acres of timber! That’s about 69% of our state in forestland folks. I’m proud to live in a region of the world where we are sustainably utiliz-ing forest products for local and global markets, providing over 122,000 jobs in the timber industry, and earning $21 billion in reve-nue for our state. We should be proud of how we are utilizing the resources we are blessed with and use Arbor Day each year as an opportunity to teach others the many values of trees.

City councilman Truman Norred describing the tree spe-cies and contributors at the beginning of event.

Above: Nick Jackson, Alabama Power Line Clearing Specialist, hands over Chickasaw plum and Dahoon Holy saplings while explaining plant-ing techniques for best chances of tree survival. Bottom right: The Right Tree in the Right Place banner can be seen each year at the Jacksonville Arbor Day event as a reminder to give sufficient thought to tree planting locations in proximity to electric utility lines. Pamphlets are also given

out with electric wire zone information and planting guidelines.

Participants lining up to receive their selection of trees.

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Alabama Urban Forestry Associa on PO Box 382225 Birmingham, AL 35238‐2225

Non-Profit Organization US Postage PAID

Permit #739 Anniston, AL 36201

Upcoming Events: 4/7 Developing a Tree, Shrub & Lawncare Program. Location: Pelham Civic Center. $39. OTPS/OTPC/D&R 4/14 Turf & ROW Pesticide Safety & Use. Location: Pelham Civic Center. $39. OTPS/OTPC/ROW 4/15 Forest & Urban Tree Pest ID and Management. Location: Pelham Civic Center. $39. OTPS/OTPC/FOR. 4/29 Developing a Household IPM Program. Location: Pelham Civic Center. $39. HPB/HPC/IIHC 4/21 Landscape Plants & Their Pests. Location: Pelham Civic Center. $39. OTPS/OTPC/D&R. 4/28 Ornamental & Turf Pest Control Exam Study. Support (1). Location: Pelham Civic Center. $39. OTPS/OTPC/D&R If you have questions about any of these classes or if you would like to regis-ter to attend, please contact Portal Program Manager Carrie Williams @ willcae@gmail.com or Fred Kapp @ 205-862-2588 or fkapp@bellsouth.net to reserve your spot in class as many fill quickly!

2016 AUFA Annual Conference

October 26th-28th

Lake Guntersville

State Park 1155 Lodge Drive

Guntersville, AL 35976

Pesticide recertification and ISA CEUs and Tree

Board Academy are tenta-tive pre-conferences.