ARRA Project

ARRA Spotlight

Kate Sayles -

Kate Sayles is no stranger to RITree. Nor is she a stranger to good tree care. A state-certified arborist, she joined the organization in 2007 while an undergraduate at the University of Rhode Island, where she was majoring in Wildlife and Conservation Biology. Originally, Kate joined RITree because it offered a chance to get hands-on training working with trees. Since then, she’s been among the organization’s more active contributors.

Over the years Kate has been involved in several key RITree programs and projects, including the Champion Tree Program. In addition to creating a Power Point presentation for RITree’s Board of Directors on the program’s status, Kate served as a field examiner and helped build the organization’s database of trees. She also led discussions of the program at the 2008 Tree Stewards Spring Symposium.

Kate’s interest in conservation and wildlife goes way back: “I can’t remember when my interest in the environment sciences began,” she says. “But even when little I was always interested in things like forestry, wildlife and conservation. My interest in urban forestry and trees is obviously a natural outgrowth of my interest in our environment.”

More recently, Kate worked on the Asian Long-horned Beetle project. As a coordinator, she developed a format for the “Train the Trainer” sessions and taught more than 200 volunteers how to identify the beetles and their handiwork. She also designed outreach materials, conducted public information sessions, and represented RITree on local television—all while maintaining and submitting monthly and bi-monthly beetle reports to RIDEM and USDA APHIS.

“Those projects provided a wealth of experience,” says Kate. “I learned a lot about trees and tree care and about working with volunteers, like how to reach out to them and how to educate them on a topic. I also enjoyed working with the media. The project got me out of the classroom and into the field to see how things are actually done.”

Given Kate’s interests, it was no surprise that she chose the environmental sciences as a college major. Her education includes three years of undergraduate work at the University of Vermont and the Evergreen State College, where she took courses like forest management, dendrology, and forest ecosystem science.

Nor is it a surprise that Kate applied for the Green Team job. A known quantity, she is everything RITree was looking for—experience, education and attitude—and then some. For Kate, the Forestry Sustainability Project, made possible by RITree’s ARRA grant, provides a chance to learn more about urban forestry, work with others on an extended project, and acquire new skills, like working with I-Tree technology, which Green Team members use to record data about the trees.

“Doing tree inventories using the I-Tree technology is great,” says Kate. “I really enjoy using it. But I think what I enjoy most about the work we’re doing is compiling all the data and figuring out what it means. It’s interesting to see what trends the data reveals and what those trends mean for municipalities. It’s like solving a mystery.”

Kate’s future is bright. Like other Green Team members, she’s still weighing her options on full time work when she leaves the Green Team. But it’s a safe bet that whatever she does it will somehow include trees and tree care.

The Forestry Sustainability Project

Forestry Sustainability Project will last for 18 months ending in June of 2011. The project involves gathering and evaluating data on urban forests located in seven cities and towns in Rhode Island. The cities and towns are:

Johnston
Cranston

North Providence

Woonsocket

Three different tree surveys, each coinciding with a different phase of the project, will be conducted in these seven communities. They are:

Phase 1- Pre-Storm Damage Assessment Survey
Phase 2- Community Tree Inventory
Phase 3- Pest/Disease Survey

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ARRA Project Breaking News

Forestry Sustainability Project Update

September 21, 2010
Significant progress has been made on the Forestry Sustainability Project ( FSP ) since this past April when it officially began. All pre-storm tree damage assessments surveys ( SDAS ) were completed by the Green Team in the six project communities (Cranston , Johnston , North Providence, Warwick, Warren and Woonsocket ) by the end of June. Initial survey findings indicate that all of these communities face major tree mitigation costs in the event of a severe storm strike (see below ). Also, by mid-September the Green Team had finished tree inventories in five of the six cities and towns with only Warren left to complete. The latter is expected to be completed by the end of September. Two communities- North Providence and Warwick- have increased their urban forest canopy cover by planting trees under the FSP. Collectively, a total of 112 shade trees were installed in planting projects held in these project communities.

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The Green Team attended the Storms & Trees Workshop, which focused on planning, response and cost recovery, held on Thursday, September 23, 2010 in Cranston. Workshop development and communication skills were incorporated in the Green Team training. A total of 35 persons attended the all-day workshop. Some of the attendees came as far as NY and Mass. Guest speakers were Channel 6 Meteorologist, Jim Corbin; USDA-FS Technical Information Specialist, John Parry and Dr. David Bloniarz, USDA-FS. The Green Team also gave a presentation on the results of storm surveys completed in Warren and other ARRA Project communities.

The Green Team


Craig Hotchkiss		Robert Swanson

Frank Mastrabuono		Kate Sayles

Pauline Smith		Chris Loens

ARRA Project

RITC Mulching Day June 5th at Roger Williams Park

Despite severe thunderstorms in the morning, A dozen people were rewarded a beautiful day in the park. Tree Stewards, Green Team members, and park staff collaborated on the mulching of 70 trees planted in 2009 around the tennis courts. The efficient team accomplished the task in a short time. Thanks to those who arranged and participated in the event.