Conway Tree Board reviews grant-funded urban forest plan, schedules events and fills leadership roles

At its meeting the Conway Tree Board reviewed grant administration for an awarded Forestry Commission grant and moved through routine board business including officer nominations, event planning and volunteer coordination.

Skyler, identified himself as a returning Tree Board member and former chair, said he has worked for the city for nearly 11 years and that he will continue to be involved in board activities. The board discussed bylaw language and membership requirements; staff reported an inventory contractor (referred to in the meeting as Davies/Davie) has begun an assessment of public trees across four city tracks and has identified just over 2,000 trees so far.

Board members reviewed the Forestry Commission-funded effort to develop an urban forest management plan that will focus on underserved tracts in the city; an outside consultant will complete the plan and a public-engagement phase is expected. The board discussed logistics for the spring tree giveaway and recommended a proposed date of March 21 (another member proposed March 20); they said about 1,200 seedlings have already been ordered for the spring giveaway and that event logistics (volunteer shifts, species labeling, pickup procedures and limits per household) were under development.

Members also previewed Arbor Day on Nov. 7, 2026 and described a new Bradford Pear Bounty program designed to encourage removal of Bradford pears and replacement with native saplings through a small replacement giveaway; the board said the program will link removal photos and a November pickup for replacement trees.

On governance, members nominated Skyler for chair and Eric Bell for vice chair; members expressed support and the nominations were carried by voice vote (tally not recorded in the transcript). The board also discussed the secretary/minutes role and assigned minute-taking for the meeting to the acting secretary process described by staff. Members noted typical tree board funding comes from Conway Corp (an annual donation cited at about $5,000) and that the grant administrator will follow up to request the Conway Corp donation appropriation for the fiscal cycle.

The board closed by confirming the next meeting on February 2 in the same building and encouraging new members to join volunteer events and social-media outreach. The meeting ended after routine housekeeping and scheduling.