Northampton forestry chair elected to state group, highlights women in arboriculture and workforce concerns

The Northampton Urban Forestry Commission’s chair said they were elected president of the Massachusetts Tree Wardens and Foresters organization and used the chair report to summarize themes from the association’s recent conference.

Conference sessions emphasized the role of women in arboriculture, efforts to improve tree equity in environmental-justice neighborhoods, and challenges in workforce development across the state. The chair described a keynote on tree equity that examined canopy disparities in cities such as Detroit, Philadelphia and Holyoke and noted sessions on recruiting and supporting women and young people in the field.

Why it matters: the state association’s priorities set professional development and networking agendas that can influence local hiring, volunteer programs and intermunicipal cooperation. The chair said one goal for the year is to strengthen connections between municipal tree wardens/foresters and volunteer tree committees to encourage shared resources and recruitment.

Commissioners discussed barriers to workforce recruitment, including perception and cultural barriers among students and families, tightened vocational-school competencies, and regulatory limits on taking students off campus for field experience. The chair suggested exploring internships, cooperative programs with Northampton DPW and outreach to vocational and college programs to expose students to careers in arboriculture.

The chair also said the commission will continue work on the Tree City USA application and other routine items and will report back at future meetings.