An upcoming workshop held by Hattiesburg’s Parks and Recreation’s Urban Forestry Department will allow attendees to learn more information about the department, urban forestry, proper tree planting and mulching techniques, and more.
The workshop, which will be hosted along with the Mississippi Forestry Commission, will be held from 1-3 p.m. Aug. 2 at Jackie Dole Sherrill Community Center, 200 West Front St. in downtown Hattiesburg. The workshop is free, but registration is required at http://bit.ly/forestryworkshop19.
The event is part of a grant from the forestry commission, which enabled the Urban Forestry Department to hire a summer intern.
“This helps the intern complete his goals that he had, but this is also something we try to do for the community,” City Arborist Andy Parker said. “A lot of times, we’re very reactive – we’ll get a call and we’ll go out there and help a property owner with their questions or problems.
“So this gives us a chance to catch more people in an air-conditioned setting, so we won’t be burning up (outside). We’re just trying to reach as many people in one shot as we can, and get the word out there that we’re trying to make Hattiesburg aesthetically pleasing and safe.”
Loren Erickson, superintendent of landscape at the University of Southern Mississippi, will discuss recent developments at the university, along with planting and pruning tips. That will be followed by an overview of what duties the city’s Urban Forestry Department conducts on a daily basis.
“A lot of people think we just cut and plant trees, but there’s a lot more to that than just being up in the canopy of the trees,” Parker said. “We do have a lot of input with different departments – we work with the Water and Sewer Department on projects, we work with planning, we work with engineering on putting in sidewalks everywhere.
“Unfortunately, sidewalks and trees don’t work together a lot, so we we’re going to have a good overview of that.”
Todd Matthews, Urban Forestry and Forest Health Coordinator with the Mississippi Forestry Commission, will be on hand to present the city with the 2018 Tree City USA designation. More than 3,400 communities have achieved Tree City USA status by meeting four core standards of sound urban forestry management: maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry and celebrating Arbor Day.
“This will be our 26th or 27th consecutive year getting this designation,” Parker said. “So they’ll present that, and then kind of go over some stuff that they have going on.”
After the presentations, officials will open the floor to questions from the audience.
“(If they have questions like) why their tree is dying, we’d be glad to come and look at it,” Parker said. “They might have questions on what to plant at (a certain place), or what would be the best tree to plant there.
“We’ll try to address anything they can throw at us.”
