A new chapter in my career

candoarms

TreeHouser
Joined
Apr 5, 2013
Messages
592
Location
Cando, North Dakota, USA
Dear friends,

Last summer I was approached by one of the City council members about taking the position of Urban Forester for the City of Cando, North Dakota. I immediately turned it down, due to a conflict of interests. Since I own a tree care company, I thought I'd leave that job to a neutral person.

Several months went by. Again I was asked to take the job. Again I turned it down. Well, I recently received word that the Mayor has appointed me. After discussing this with the Mayor and the City Council, I was assured that there is no conflict of interests. North Dakota Century Code makes allowances for cities with populations under 10,000 people to hire contractors to fill official city positions. OK...no conflict of interest issues. Fine then....I'll take the job.

So now I start a new chapter in my career. I'm now serving as the Urban Forester for the City of Cando. The position pays 2400 dollars annually....or 600 per quarter. I'm certainly not doing it for the money. Rather, I've decided to serve my community in a capacity that might benefit everyone.

There's going to be a bit of a learning curve for me, but I'm willing to study and learn all I can about the job and my new duties. My first step is to get my ISA certification. The test will be administered on Jan. 24th in Fargo, ND. I'll have my paperwork submitted tomorrow. Hopefully all goes well with the application process. I'll keep you folks posted on the results of that.

If anyone here serves as the Urban Forester for your community, I'd enjoy hearing from you. I'll gladly take all the advice you are willing to dish out.

Joel
 
Looked around town on Google maps, 2012 imaging. Looks like a lot of young trees along the main strip. Looks reasonably well treed for what I take to be a rough climate. You'll have some good work to do!
 
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  • #7
Sean,

The people of this little town take great pride in the appearance of the city. We've held the title of Tree City USA for 22 of the past 24 years. We have a great Shade Tree Committee, and I know most everyone in town. Even the Mayor is a customer of mine. I trim his hedges every year or two.

You are so right about the rough climate. We are listed as a Hardiness Zone 3....which makes tree selection fairly easy. There just aren't many tree species that will survive in this cold climate. Sadly, the trees that do best here are the Green Ash, which is something we will have to address. EAB isn't here YET....but it's not far away. We're now in the process of creating a disaster plan regarding EAB.

I look forward to helping the city with problems dealing with narrow planting strips, tree selection, pest control issues, tree risk assessments, and planning for major storm damage cleanup. I'm sure there will be other issues that will come up. (We already have a complete Tree Inventory, including GPS locations for every tree located on city property) I'll do my best to keep the City officials informed about the pest and disease risks associated with firewood transport and storage, among others. I also plan on educating the public by way of posting a short newsletter in the local newspaper once per month.

Any input from our members here would be greatly appreciated.

Joel
 
I am no urban forester but I have done some work for a small municipality as a subcontractor. The money is not that great like 500 or less for a removal regardless of size but it will get your name out there in the community.
 
Excellent, Joel! They say you can run but you can't hide...they kept finding you. Sounds like a great way for Cando to have someone that cares in the right place.
 
Stay under the radar don't make any waves.
Generally small municipalities towns are home to nepotism
, jealousy and entitlement.
Be prepared for back stabbing and crucifixion.
If there is union try hard to build a great working partnership.
They are the ones on the front lines who will be your most help at getting things done.
Managing relationships is job one.
Learning when and when not to do the right thing is aclose second.
I had quite a few years as a town forester and loved it in the end but
Just couldn't make it work after a big accident.no injuries just property damage.
Wish you the best :)
 
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  • #15
The one part of this job that I'm not going to enjoy is having to write a letter to a homeowner, informing them that a tree in their yard has become diseased, or has died, and will have to be removed.

I've covered myself with this by creating a list of qualified tree contractors who are licensed and insured to perform this type of work. Yes....my name is on that list, but I won't be involved with accepting any bids. All bids will be submitted directly to the property owner. I will not have access to the bids, and I've made it very clear that I never want to know.

Yep....politics. I'll try not to get too involved with that end of the job.

Joel
 
Everyone becomes your boss.
People are at their worst also when trees are being pruned also.
They can take it really personally.
Remembering some of the abuse I had to endure brings up some hurt to, try hard not to take anything personally. The abuse part sucks the most.
 
It's not all bad. More good than bad. Find it stick to them and share.
Local newspaper is something to manage as well.
Editor lived on the street where I had to reduce some fence line trees.
Saved the trees but lost in the media. frigged either way.
Helps to educate the young and eventually mom and dad. Planting and climb demos are win win.
Naturalist and trail clubs horticulture society are great people tohave in your corner as well.
 
To this day I do not do work for municipality. Only consult.
It's a lot like working for ahole client. The money has got to be really good to get past all the bs.
 
Do you battle topping, within your locale?

Some informational pamphlets (ISA sells commonly needed one, inexpensively) could go a long way, at the city office, and for house-calls.
 
You will do just fine. I did this for 13 years at Bottineau. You are in a region where trees are rare and valuable, not just something a bird planted while relieving itself. People want to know if they have a problem. Being an agricultural community, they understand IPM, PHC and other relationships between the environment, plants and people moreso than in larger urban areas where they wonder about plants that grow in tin or plastic shells. Have fun and keep learning!
 
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  • #22
Thanks Bob! I appreciate the vote of confidence, though it may be a bit premature. I'll try to keep you updated on my progress with this new job, but I do have issues that you might be able to help me with.

I've already identified a couple of trees that have severe lightning damage and are located right next to city streets and sidewalks. I'll fill out a risk assessment form for each of those.......but that's where I run up against a brick wall. I'm not sure where I go from there. I'll be looking for some help in this area. Bob.....any advice?

Yes...I do believe that we all battle topping and other improper pruning methods, but I work very hard to educate my customers on the harmful and sometimes dangerous effects of doing such things. I carry a little photo album with me, which includes pictures that I've taken of some of the worst cases. I use those photos to help with the education process. My customers always appreciate the help and the advice.

Reduction pruning is one thing.....but topping is an entirely different animal. The local utility company doesn't seem to care one danged bit. Wow! I can't help but wonder if any of those guys have ever heard of such a thing as "proper pruning methods". Just out of curiosity, I'm wondering if they'd be interested in learning about proper pruning practices. Maybe this is something I could provide. A few ANSI A300 pamphlets on proper pruning, along with a short class on making a proper pruning cut might be something they'd really enjoy taking part in. I don't know.

Customers who complain about their trees being too tall......well, I believe we all face this problem on a daily basis. It's not cheap to correct, and the job is never "done".

I've got a lot to learn in the area of government grants, which are used to help off-set the costs associated with purchasing, planting, and caring for young trees. It's quite a process, which I'm only now beginning to get a taste of. Luckily I have a good group of people who have been involved with the grant application process before.

Joel
 
Congratulations, Joel. I may have an extra ISA study guide if you don't already have one. It's not the latest version, but I passed my exam studying off of it. PM me if you want me to see if I still have the extra.
 
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