Tree Stewards are community volunteers committed to promoting healthy urban and rural forests in Virginia.  Tree Stewards provide training classes, educational programs, and projects in their communities intended to increase public awareness regarding the value of trees while teaching about trees and tree care.  With classroom training and hands-on practice, Tree Stewards are equipped to identify trees, counsel on tree selection, demonstrate proper tree planting and follow-up care, and guide removal of invasive plants that threaten trees.

Each person taking the Tree Steward training makes a commitment to return a specific number of volunteer hours to their local Tree Steward projects. Each community determines the number of hours, sets the standards for volunteer work, and decides the Tree Steward project they will undertake. Tree Steward volunteers are a positive force for change in their communities.  All Tree Steward projects are tailored to meet the needs of their community.  There are currently  eight Tree Steward groups in Virginia with more on the way. 

For additional information on Tree Steward Programs or on starting a program in your community, contact Louise Seals at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Louise serves in the Tree Steward seat for Trees Virginia.

TREE STEWARDS TRAINING

Trees Virginia has published A Training Manual for Virginia Tree Stewards.  It was revised in 2009 and is now available on CD-ROM.  All trainees in tree steward classes sponsored by tree steward communities listed below receive the CD Manual without cost.  Other communities who wish to sponsor a tree steward training class will also receive the CD manual upon request.

The Training Manual for Virginia Tree Stewards, CD version, is available for $10.  Please contact Trees Virginia:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  or Becky Woodson, 434.220.9024 to order.

Louise Seals of the Richmond Tree Stewards shows us the many benefits that trees bring to Richmond - and the tasks the Tree Stewards perform to assist them on this YouTube video (20 slides in 20 seconds!):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmkfmXufKHs

It is a presentation that Suzette Lyon created and Louise Seals narrated last month at the 2nd Richmond PechuKucha. It's a fun format of networking and informal exchange of ideas and work, held in a congenial public space like a bar. And it's a global urban phenom. The event originated in Japan as a way for young designers to network and display their work. It requires a 20X20 format -- that's 20 slides at 20 seconds each.

2011 Statewide Tree Steward Symposium

A Statewide Tree Steward Symposium was held September 27-28, 2011, for the purposes of sharing information, learning effective strategies, and increasing urban forestry efforts among tree steward volunteers.  A total of 37 from nine jurisdictions were represented to include master gardener tree stewards, tree board members, Virginia Department of Forestry personnel, and tree stewards.  The sessions took place at the Roslyn Conference Center in Richmond, VA. 

~ Photo courtesy of Cindy Mashburn

The major presenters to the Symposium came from the Philadelphia Horticulture Society, Casey Trees of Washington, D.C., and the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture.  Symposium topics included recruiting and retaining volunteers, promoting tree stewards using social media, and the essential messages to bring to our communities about trees and tree care.  The final activity of the two-day meeting was a Big Tree Walk at Maymont Park in Richmond led by their Director of Horticulture.                          

The sponsors of the Symposium were the Virginia Urban Forest Council (Trees Virginia), the Ballyshannon Fund, and Dominion.  Participants evaluated the event as worthwhile, inspiring, and meaningful.