Welcome

With the recent discovery in Vermont of emerald ash borer, there will likely be an ever-increasing need to dispose of the wood from dead and dying trees. One organization in the Midwest is coming up with innovative solutions to repurpose urban trees that are removed. Learn more about the Urban Wood Network

Western Mass. Tree Wardens (chapter of MTWFA) and Southeastern Mass. Tree Wardens (SEMTWAA) are each holding a quarterly dinner meeting in March.  You can register online for the Western Mass. meeting in Northampton. View the Southeastern Mass. flyer here. To register for the Southeastern Mass. meeting in Middleboro, send an email to SEMTWAA.

The 2018 annual conference is now history, and it was a good one. Educational speaker presentations, over 40 visiting students from UMass, Essex Technical High School and Norfolk County Agricultural High School, three MTWFA association awards (2018 Tree Warden of the Year, George E. Stone Founders Award, and President’s Award),  camaraderie, networking, and a full trade show.  Tawny Simisky has generously shared the handout of her presentation on Insect Pests of 2017.   Click here to download the handout.
Check out the conference web page and save the dates for next year: January 8-9, 2019.

Annual conference is a just a short time away.  Online registration is now available – or download the paper version with complete schedule.  You can also visit this page for more details. 

Here’s an excerpt from an great new article by Jamie Magaldi, P.E., MCA, tree warden for the Town of Wilmington and MTWFA board member.  “Perhaps we have been narrow minded to believe that future tree professionals are exclusively seeded in the arboricultural education system. I can tell you from experience that many of the same concepts in tree risk management, rigging, and structural behavior of trees are being taught as part of static mechanics for young structural engineering students. Concepts like center of gravity, behavior of materials (specifically timber) under stress, moment of inertia, torsion stress, material yielding, factors of safety, load testing, load redirections through pulleys, and other concepts of structural analysis are being discussed right now in engineering classrooms around the country to students who don’t have the slightest idea that they can apply these concepts to a career in arboriculture……Let’s remember that there are youngsters out there that simply haven’t yet been informed that they can actually have a rewarding career in a field that actually combines the love of nature with the latest concepts in structural engineering. Read the entire article.