Connect to the Roots of Your Community,
Become an Urban Forest Steward!
The City of Austin Urban Forestry program and TreeFolks present the Urban Forest Steward Series of workshops focused on building and protecting the urban canopy of Central Texas.
Drought, invasive species and habitat degradation constantly take a toll on Austin’s parks and natural areas. The Texas Forest Service estimates that Texas has lost up to 10 percent of its trees. The goal of the Urban Forest Steward Series is to equip a cadre of citizens to help us gain ground in rebuilding our urban forest through education and volunteer leadership.
The topics to be covered are extensive and intend to give volunteers the tools to educate, train, and lead other volunteers in planting and maintaining our urban forest. Topics include Stewardship, Arboriculture, Urban Planning & Design, Volunteer Leadership, and Sustainability. Class dates are July 21, August 4, 18, September 15, and October 6. Attendees must attend at least four classes (with an optional fifth day) to graduate from the series.
The Urban Forest Steward Series plans to award 30 scholarships to representatives from Adopt-A-Park and other volunteer organizations. Scholarship will be competitively awarded through our online application process at the following link: UFS Scholarship Application Individuals who would like to register and are not applying for a scholarship can register soon for a fee of $150.
National Arbor Day is April 27th – which is a bit late for planting trees with our Texas summer fast approaching! So, instead of planting trees for National Arbor Day, we’ll be giving some greatly needed care to trees that are already in the ground. On Friday, April 27 from 1 to 4 p.m., TreeFolks will lead volunteers in completing a tree care project at Bartholomew District Park that began several weeks ago on It’s My Park Day. Employees from Starbucks and Friends of Bartholomew Park will pitch in and we’d like YOU to come help out too! We will do root collar clearing around the base of the trees and apply mulch to trees in high traffic areas where ground cover can’t grow because of heavy foot traffic. All of this mulch will go a long way in helping the park’s trees thrive during the hot summer. Mulch reduces soil compaction, cools the soil and conserves moisture – all of which contributes to healthy tree roots! Healthy tree roots mean beautiful tree canopy, shady parks and happy people!
Come on downtown on Arbor Day (Friday, April 27th) for a FREE mini tree tour of Downtown Austin trees! We’ll have an information table set up from 10 to 2 where you can learn about TreeFolks’ tree planting, tree care and wildfire restoration programs and pick up a free Native Tree Growing Guide for Central Texas that includes helpful information about native tree species as well as how to plant, prune and water trees at your home. Our 7-foot tall tree mascot, Barkley, will make an appearance around lunchtime. The tree tour will be one hour long, beginning at 12:45 p.m.