Meeting Minutes – March 27, 2025

Susan reports that Preston will be at the Audubon Center on Monday to integrate their citizen forester program with TBUFC’s, with TBUFC providing the training. The Board Retreat is scheduled for 9 AM to 2 PM at the Audubon Center. Chris has been contacting new sponsors for an upcoming event, and the registration fee for a pruning class has been increased to $100 for members and $120 for non-members. The meeting attendees introduce themselves, including representatives from various city forestry departments and tree care companies.

The meeting began with Susan calling the meeting to order and approving the agenda and minutes from the previous meeting. The treasurer’s report was then discussed, with Amy reporting a balance of $11,000 and a need for conservative spending. The team also discussed a grant payment from the Forest Service and a check from Isa. The conversation ended with a discussion about a half-day indoor and outdoor event on May 19th at the Tree Place in Fort Worth.

Susan and Lindsey discussed the upcoming training sessions for precision pruning, which are currently only available in Florida. They mentioned that there are no sanctioned trainers outside of Florida, but they have trained individuals like Lindsey. The training sessions are scheduled for 8-9 AM with Chris, 9-10 AM with Gareth, 10-11 AM with Andrew, and 11-12 PM with Ronnie. Lindsey also mentioned that they are working on a certification for prescriptive pruning and that the training is beneficial for production crews. The team agreed to help push the training through and it will be added to the ISA website soon.

Susan discussed the need to rent 70 chairs and 3 tables for an upcoming event. She also mentioned reaching out to sponsors for the lunch. Marc suggested using the city of Dallas Park and Recreation team’s event trailer, but Susan pointed out the need for staff to set it up and feed them. Susan also discussed the upcoming Board of Director Training at the Audubon Center and the need for a proposal for the Saluting Branches event in Plano. Preston mentioned the possibility of merging their program with Dallas Citizen Foresters. Marc agreed to coordinate with a group in Plano for the Saluting Branches event. Susan also mentioned the need to find out who the contact is in Dallas for the Saluting Branches event.

Mary provides an update on social media efforts. She is now posting weekly on social media as part of her daily work tasks. The new social media account has very few followers, and Mary is trying to build momentum. She asks about boosting posts on Facebook to reach a larger audience and proposes creating a LinkedIn account for the organization. The team agrees to explore boosting costs and approves the LinkedIn account creation. Mary also mentions sharing account passwords with key team members for backup access. The group discusses retrieving the old Facebook account with more followers through a contact named Steve.

The board discusses upcoming events, including an urban forestry master planning workshop scheduled for June in Dallas, New Braunfels, and Houston. They confirm speakers for the event, including Dana Carter and Chris Rasmussen. Preston updates the group on efforts to revitalize Dallas’ community forester program and create an arborist certification course. The board also touches on a new nonprofit called Plan T, which focuses on planting tiny forests. Marc mentions a recent meeting with the Cross Timbers Urban Forestry Council to explore collaboration opportunities. The meeting concludes with a brief discussion about sharing membership lists and setting the next meeting date for April 24th.