This month is Youth Services Month and today’s speakers were Urban Forestry Interns from Jamestown Community College accompanied by their instructor and Rotarian Lorie Brockelbank.
JCC was the first tree campus in the USA and JCC is the most diverse campus in NYS with a wide variety of trees.
Jack began by telling the group that JCC has been a Tree City for 44 years with 754 trees on the city’s campus. The students were charged with inventorying, identifying, and describing the tree care and management and the Campus management plan for the trees.
The students Checked the health of the trees, reported on the trees that were removed, recorded the health of young trees, inventoried the invasive species damage, and noted the effects of the local population on the campus trees.
Jackie reported on the Department of Environmental Conservation’s recent conference at Syracuse University on March 21, 2024, where the students could network with other students, learn more about proper care of trees, and glean addition al information regarding invasive species of trees.
On Arbor Day, they planted 7 trees to mark the day.
Nate explained why we should care about trees. Trees are important for water filtration, controlling runoff and preventing erosion. The trees provide food and shelter to our population of humans and native animals. Additionally, the trees cleanse the city air of auto exhaust.
Hayley described the many mental health aspects that the trees add to improve our environment. The beauty of the trees adds calmness to our spirit and a provide relaxation for our stressful lives.
Jack explained further benefits of trees to our environment such as improvement in the soil, providing us with fruit such as apples, pears, and cherries for food, reducing electric usage by providing shade, providing privacy and being a natural water filter.
He reminded the audience how important it is to plant the right tree in the right place, such as not planting trees too close to road salt areas, or planting trees that will grow too large for their location.
The students represented Jamestown, Lakewood, Scio and New Zealand. This year they planted 7 different species of trees on the campus that were decided upon by the College’s Tree Board and were available to them from inventory of the City of Jamestown.
Ms. Brockelbank, their instructor, explained that over 60 students have participated in the program at Jamestown Community College and three students have continued to pursue careers in forestry.
