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Tumwater introduces new urban forester; board discusses funding, tools and vacancies
Summary
The Tree Board met its new urban forester, Brian Coughlin, and discussed his duties, tools purchased with outside funding, and upcoming vacancies on the board after resignations.
The Tumwater Tree Board formally introduced Brian Coughlin as the city’s new urban forester at the June 9 meeting. Coughlin said he had been on the job “a little over a month” and described priorities including review of development plans, street-tree oversight, coordination with streets and parks crews, and public outreach.
Coughlin told the board he is a certified arborist with prior experience in area municipal and county forestry/stormwater work and said, “I’m here to help, and I’m really looking forward to it.” He also described outreach plans including meetings with HOAs, the school district and local institutions.
City staff reported that roughly 50% of the forester position’s funding had been provided through external sources and that the city had submitted the supporting invoice; that external funding had not yet been clawed back and the position is planned as permanent with a backup funding plan if needed. Staff said initial purchases for the position — increment borers of multiple sizes and an electric chainsaw among other safety equipment — were paid from the outside funding source to equip the position.
The board also recorded two upcoming vacancies: Alex Chacon had resigned earlier after moving out of the city and Brent Chapman planned to resign at the end of the month; Chapman said his work to hire the urban forester was a major reason for stepping away. Members discussed recruiting replacements and the application process for board seats.
No formal hiring vote was required at the meeting; Coughlin’s hire had been completed before the meeting and the item served as an informal introduction and orientation to the board. Board members asked staff to keep the Tree Board involved in outreach and noted the need for public-facing contact information and business cards for the new forester.
