THE LEAFLET

The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (MAC-ISA) is a non-profit organization of arborists, urban foresters and others dedicated to the care and protection of trees. Their mission is to promote the culture of safety while fostering education and research that supports the care and benefits of trees.

Every year MAC-ISA hosts an annual meeting to further their mission, and this year Casey Trees was asked to present! Director of Tree Planting, Jim Woodworth an ISA certified arborist and certified tree risk assessor gave the presentation entitled, Beyond the Golden Shovel: Tree Planting with Volunteers Balancing Safety, Quality Control and Fun.

During his presentation Jim discussed how there can be many rewards of planting with the community and volunteers, including building important and positive relationships between constituents and urban forestry programs. However while best practices for tree planting are well codified,  best practices for working safely and with proper technique with untrained volunteers are often not well developed or considered at all. 

In the “many-hands-on” session, Jim went through all the steps to plant trees with attendees, from signing them in and getting them organized, to delivering an effective safety briefing, and actually getting trees in the ground properly. We are very proud that Casey Trees can help further the standards in volunteer safety!