The Conference
Join municipal arborists, urban forest managers, landscape design professionals, planners, and non-profits from across California for this unique educational and networking experience in Palo Alto. With a focus on utilizing urban forestry to revitalize California’s communities, participants will leave the conference with tools to improve the areas where the majority of Californian’s live, work and play. We’ll discuss: community revitalization, nontraditional funding sources, best management practices, species selection, tree pruning and much more!
The Friday afternoon sessions will include two separate tracks – one specifically for non-profits and another geared towards municipalities.
Agenda
|
Thursday, September 15 |
|
|
6:00 p.m. |
Registration Open |
|
6:30 – 8:30 p.m. |
Reception/Exhibit Open |
|
Friday, September 16 |
|
|
8:00 – 8:30 a.m. |
Registration/Breakfast/Exhibit Open |
|
8:45 a.m. |
Welcome, Introductions, Logistics Palo Alto Mayor Sid Epinosa |
|
9:00 – 10:00 a.m. |
Keynote Speaker – Community Revitalization Dr. Robert Eyler, Sonoma State University |
|
10:00 a.m. |
Break |
|
10:15 – 11:00 a.m. |
Plenary Session John Laird, California Secretary for Natural Resources |
|
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. |
Partnerships & Funding Panel Brian Kempf, Urban Tree Foundation Claire Robinson, Amigos de los Rios Moderator: John Melvin, CAL FIRE Other speakers TBA |
|
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. |
Lunch |
|
1:15 – 2:15 p.m. |
Track 1: A Guide to the Trees Among Us Dr. Matt Ritter, Cal Poly professor and author or Track 2: Fruit Tree Planting Progams Jacobe Caditz, Sacramento Tree Foundation Steve Hofvendahl, TreePeople |
|
2:25 – 4:00 p.m. |
Track 1: California ReLeaf Network Retreat or Track 2: Best Management Practices in UF / Maintaining the UF During Hard Times Dorothy Abeyta, City of San Jose/ Ron Combs, City of San Luis Obispo |
|
4:15 – 5:00 p.m. |
Track 1: California ReLeaf Network Retreat or Track 2: Tree Toolmania Kelaine Vargas/Paula Peper |
|
5:30 p.m. |
Reception/CaUFC awards/Silent Auction Ends A tour of construction at the Mitchell Bowl will be lead by Palo Alto Arborist Dave Dockter. This will be an opportunity to see some of the innovative ways Palo Alto works to save mature trees during construction. |
|
Saturday, September 17 |
|
|
9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. |
Pruning Workshop – transportation & snack included Pruning young trees for long-term structural integrity is one of the most important parts of establishing new trees, yet it is rarely done consistently or effectively. In this workshop, we will be working with trees planted in the last 5 years in East Palo Alto. We will be pruning both small, moderate vigor trees (‘Natchez’ Crape Myrtle) and large, highly vigorous trees (‘Frontier’ Elm). This is a hands-on workshop. We will begin with a brief classroom discussion of the basic concepts, followed by a tour of nearly 1,000 young trees that have been structurally pruned to a high standard in a very challenging environment. After seeing the concepts applied, we will spend the remainder of the workshop working with real trees. Tools will be available, but feel free to bring your own if convenient. Brian Kempf, Urban Tree Foundation Dave Muffly, Arborist |
|
OR |
|
|
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. |
Fundraising Kim Klein, Klein and Roth Consulting |
|
OR |
|
|
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. |
Green Cities: Good Health Dr. Kathleen Wolf, University of Washington |
Accommodations
Participants are encouraged to stay at our conference location, the Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel Palo Alto. Participants can receive a special conference rate of $139 per night by booking their stay and entering the Group Code: A4M.
Registration fees also include breakfast on both mornings of the conference, lunch on Friday and a reception on both nights of the conference.
Travel
Palo Alto can easily be reached by car, plane or train. For driving directions to the Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel.
For those planning to fly, the closest airport is Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC). You can also fly into San Francisco International Airport (SFO) or Oakland International Airport (OAK).
If you’d like to take the train, Amtrak has several routes that go through Palo Alto.
Continuing Education Units
Continuing Education Units (CEUs) will be offered through the International Society of Aboriculture. Conference participants can receive up to nine CEUs for participating in conference sessions. Participants must fill out the appropriate paperwork after conference sessions to receive credit.
Cancellations
Participants can receive a full refund until two weeks prior to the event. After that point, they can receive a partial refund. There are no refunds for the Pruning Workshop unless your spot is filled.