Board Members for the Virginia Urban Forest Council

It is with great sadness that the Trees Virginia Board of Directors report the passing of Board Member Gordon Tyler Wright. Tyler was the Arborist for the Town of Leesburg and died on Saturday June 4. The entire Board expresses sympathy to the family Tyler. Tyler leaves behind a wife and young child.

Tyler served on the Trees Virginia Board in the Municipal Employee Seat and played an important role on the Board. He was always engaged, active and interested. He was an advocate for the expansion of the Trees Virginia Certified Arborist Scholarship Program.

The Town of Leesburg hopes to hold a tree planting/celebration of life event this fall and will coordinate with the family to find a meaningful spot in Town with one of his favorite trees.

Trees Virginia thanks Anne Little of Tree Fredericksburg and Eric Schlosser of James River Nurseries for their years of service on the Board of Trees Virginia! We also thank Meg Turner and Toni Woods for agreeing to serve in Ex-Officio seats.

The current Trees Virginia Board members are as follows:

Executive Board

Ashley Appling, President - Virginia Cooperative Extension Culpeper (VCE) Seat
VACANT, Vice-President -
Amy Murray, Treasurer - Private Arborist Seat - Davey Resource
Kevin Sigmon, Secretary - At Large Seat

Permanent Seats

Lara Johnson, Virginia Department of Forestry
Molly O'Liddy, Virginia Department of Forestry
Dr. Eric Wiseman, Virginia Tech - Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation

Ex-Officio

Adam Downing, Virginia Cooperative Extension-Madison County
Kevin Beal, Past Real Estate Agent Seat
Meg Turner, Past Garden Club Seat
Jay Banks, Past Municipal Arborist Seat
Toni Woods, Past MAC-ISA Seat

Current Board of Directors

Ashley Appling - President, Virginia Cooperative Extension Seat (VCE)
Anna Aquino, At Large Seat (or Garden Club Seat)
Paul Josey, Landscape Architecture Seat, Wolf Josey Landscape Architects
Ann Jurcyzk - Non-Profit Seat, Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Joel Koci - Urban Forestry Related Higher Education Seat, Virginia State University
Joe Lehnen - Urban Wood Group Seat, Virginia Dept. of Forestry
Adam Lipera - At Large Seat, Fairfax County
Cindy Musick - Utility Forester Seat, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative
Amy Murray - Private Arborist Seat, Davey Resource Group
Martha Orton - Tree Steward Seat, Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards
Leighton Powell - At Large Seat, Scenic Virginia
VACANT - VNLA Seat
Steven Traylor - MAC-ISA Seat, City of Norfolk
VACANT - Horticulturalist Seat
VACANT - Municipal Employee Seat
VACANT - Planner Seat
VACANT - Garden Club Seat
VACANT - Builder Seat
VACANT - Virginia Forestry Association (VFA) Seat
VACANT - Real Estate Agent
VACANT - At Large Seat
VACANT - At Large Seat
VACANT - Landscape Architect Seat

Did You Know:

Most trees do not have a tap root.
In one day, one large tree can lift up to 100 gallons of water out of the ground and discharge it into the air.
Well-maintained trees and shrubs can increase property value by up to 14%.
Trees are some of the oldest living organisms on earth: some bristle-cone pines are thought to be more than 5000 years old.
Most tree roots are in the top 12 inches of soil.
Trees are the largest living organisms on earth: some coastal redwoods are more than 360 feet tall.
Trees properly placed around buildings can reduce air conditioning needs by 30 percent and save 20-50 percent in heating energy.
A birdhouse hung on a young tree branch, does not move up the tree as the tree grows.
One large tree can provide a supply of oxygen for two people.
Every state has an official State Tree. Virginia adopted the flowering dogwood Cornaceae Cornus floridaas the State Tree on February 24, 1956. The dogwood is well distributed throughout the...
A mature tree removes almost 70 times more pollution than a newly planted tree.