The City’s of Hattiesburg’s Urban Forestry Division is partnering up with the Mississippi Forestry Commission to host a free summer workshop designed to give information about trees and urban forestry.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held from 1-3 p.m. Aug. 30 at Jackie Dole Sherrill Community Center, 220 West Front St. in downtown Hattiesburg.
“(It’s for) anybody that’s interested in finding out more about trees and the different programs that are out there,” City Arborist Andy Parker said. “We’re trying to get information out to the people who might not be on Facebook or Internet hunting.
“Some people like to be one-on-one and get the personal service, so we’re going to try to some programs out there and let them know what Hattiesburg is doing, and let them know what the Forestry Commission and other folks are doing.”
Todd Matthews, urban forestry and forest health coordinator at MFC, will be on hand to talk about some of his organization’s programs, including “Help Stop the Pop,” a system aimed at reporting invasive Chinese Tallow (popcorn) trees. Loren Erickson, landscape superintendent at the University of Southern Mississippi, will discuss trees in urban environments.
“I know (USM) just did some landscaping, and of course they’re always trying to beautify USM,” Parker said. “So we’re trying to get some local makeup of what trees are to the community, and hopefully get some good, relatable information out there.”
Officials also will educate the public on how to identify “hazard trees” – for example, dead trees that may blow over and cause damage during a storm.
“Hurricane season is kind of winding down, but we’re still not out of the woods yet,” Parker said. “Then we have those thunderstorms that come in the late evening and whip up winds when we start getting cold fronts, (when) we get to cooler weather again.”
The workshop is being held on the heels of the city’s recent designation of Tree City USA, given by the Arbor Day Foundation.
The designation requires a city to maintain four core standards of sound urban forestry management, including maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry and celebrating Arbor Day.
Although the workshop is free, attendees are asked to register online at http://bit.ly/forestryworkshop.
