winternews6

Highlights of the 1999
National Urban Forestry
Conference
Eric Berg, Coordinator - Urban
and Community Forestry

In September, I, along with several other Kansans, had the opportunity to attend the 1999 National Urban Forestry Con- ference in Seattle, Washington. What a fantastic opportunity and learning exper- ience! Those in attendance from Kansas included: Brad Hatfield of Roeland Park, Wes Adell of Lindsborg and Bill Moyer and Mayor Jeff Roberts both of Hutchinson.
The Conference, August 31 - Sep- tember 3, carried the appropriate theme of "Building Cities of Green." The week-long activities were broken down into three main categories that built upon this theme: Building a Green Foundation, Reviewing the Plan, and finally, Designing the Blueprint.
One of the highlights of the confer- ence was the keynote address delivered by Dan Glickman, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. Secretary Glickman spoke on the de-greening of America and referred to it as a "stealth phenomenon."

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Specific examples of this phenomenon sighted by the Secretary included the Puget Sound area where more than half the land area has less than 20 percent tree canopy coverage and metropolitan Atlanta which has lost over 60 percent of its tree cover in the past 25 years. Secretary Glickman also announced that the USDA will contribute 100 historic trees to each state's capitol city to help create Millennium Groves. This project will contribute to the Secretary's goal of seeing 50,000 trees planted as the National Millennium Project.
In short, this conference was a fantastic learning experience and it was very encouraging to see and hear of many of the community forestry projects that are being carried out across the nation!

The National Tree Trust and the USDA-Forest Service are sponsoring a Grass Roots 2000 which will be held on Sept. 9 - 12 in Nebraska City, Nebraska - Lots closer to us! - More information will be available as it materializes and the planning is firmed up. Lots of great information will be available - not to mention the networking possibilities!

CALENDAR OF
EVENTS FOR
ARBOR DAY FARM

1-402-474-5655

May 3rd
Hazard Trees
Lied Conference Center
Nebraska City, Nebraska

Mary 4th & 5th
Wood Waste Utilization
Arbor Day Farm* Lied
Conference Center
Nebraska City, Nebraska

May 9th -11th
Buffers: Common sense
Conservation for Urbani-
zing Landscapes.
Arbor Day Farm* Lied
Conference Center
Nebraska City, Nebraska

Sept. 9th - 12th
Grass Roots 2000
Lied Conference Center
Arbor Day Farm*
Nebraska City, Nebraska
More to come on this event!

Sept. 28th - 30th
COMMUNITY FORESTRY
AT ITS BEST
Arbor Day Farm*
Lied Conference Center
Nebraska City, Nebraska