Want to be a Neighborhood Forester?
At minimum you can simply come to, and participate in our hands-on workshops or Work & Learn Stewarding Parties (fill out our Contacts page to be alerted of these, or regularly check our Events page).
But we’d really like to help you lift your capabilities and experience still more, as you also give back more to your community, its forests, its watershed, its residents, and beyond by stepping up to committing to, and achieving, one or more, levels of Neighborhood Forester—see below for more.
Version 1.0
These levels were created by the Dunbar/Spring Neighborhood Foresters and written up by Brad Lancaster. They are meant as a template for other neighborhoods’ Neighborhood Forester groups, though we encourage each Neighborhood Forester group to also draw upon that which is unique about its foresters and place.
Note that we will help train and support you to rise to the level, which you desire and commit to.
Each level lifts your skills and capacity, while enabling you to help others lift their capacity. Each level also comes with more mentoring and educational support.
Any neighborhood anywhere wanting to create, or already having, their own neighborhood forester group can freely use, adapt, and/or repost the materials on these Neighborhood Foresters webpages – just credit the source, and happy foresting!
Level 1 – Home & Public Right-of-Way Forester
Learn:
• Attend a Neighborhood Foresters community Pruning & Mulching (tree care) workshop
or
a Neighborhood Foresters community Rain & Tree planting.
Note that both workshops along with Neighborhood Foresters Work & Learn Parties also teach plant identification.
• Be able to identify at least 3 invasive plants.
• Be able to identify at least 5 trees (3 native) and 5 shrubs (3 native).
Practice:
• Commit to, and follow through for a full year minimum, planting and caring for the public right-of-way forest adjoining your home, property, school, place of worship, park, and/or workplace; and/or within a neighborhood chicane or traffic circle (plant, prune, & mulch as needed; remove invasive plants; regularly clean up trash; remove graffiti; keep public access clear and open).
Take and provide before and after photos to document your efforts and their results, along with journaling/logging the dates, duration, and description of your work (and others who may have helped you).
• Maximize vegetative shading/cooling of hardscape (walk/bikeways, driveways, streets, parking lots, bike racks, bus stops, playgrounds, gathering areas, patios, walls, rainwater cisterns) in warm and hot seasons, while maintaining required pedestrian, vehicle, and sight-line clearance/access. Public walkways must be kept clear and continuous to minimum 5’ width and 7’ height clearance). Use runoff from hardscapes to irrigate the adjoining vegetation.
Take and provide before and after photos to document your efforts and their results.
• Have planted, harvested, processed, and consumed at least one native plant edible or plant and utilize at least one native plant medicinal.
• Plant sufficient rain/stormwater with earthworks to freely provide all native plants’ water needs once established (1 to 15-gallon sized, nursery-grown plants typically need 1 – 3 years of supplemental irrigation after planting in the ground to get them established). See full-color editions of Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond for more info.
Rebates, grants, and loans available.
• Use landscape’s leaf drop, fruit drop, and/or cut-up prunings (no longer than 6 inches) as soil- and fertility-building mulch. Maximize soil contact with the mulch and apply within water harvesting earthworks where there is more moisture to speed up the beneficial decomposition of the organic matter, and reduce soil moisture loss to evaporation. (Ensure top of mulch does not rise above elevation of earthworks’ water inlet, which could block incoming water flow. And make sure depth/thickness of mulch is not thicker than what can get thoroughly saturated in an average rainstorm—so you don’t dehydrate soil below. Mulch in non-water harvesting areas typically not more than 1-inch deep, while within well-watered water-harvesting earthworks can be up to 6-inches deep). Be sure to leave some areas of landscape free of mulch or other cover to maintain habitat for soil-burrowing native pollinators.
Get support:
Upon working toward and achieving this level, you can receive organizing help and call upon Neighborhood Foresters volunteers for an event(s) such as a Work & Learn party for a section of neighborhood forest you are helping steward.
In addition, once achieving this level you can pick from a Neighborhood Foresters sticker, Neighborhood Foresters shirt, Neighborhood Forester-branded hand pruners and sheath, Neighborhood Forester-branded pruning saw and sheath, tool sharpener, native wildflower and habitat restoration seed mixes, OR adolescent saguaro (providing a living totem and future harvests) to identify and support your stewarding efforts.
Level 2 – Neighborhood Forester
• Achievements of Level 1 and…
Learn:
• Attend both a Neighborhood Foresters community Pruning & Mulching (tree care) workshop and a Neighborhood Foresters community Rain & Tree planting workshop. Note that both workshops along with Neighborhood Foresters Work & Learn Parties also teach plant identification.
• Participate in Neighborhood Foresters work & learn parties (includes planting from seed & cuttings, weeding, pruning & mulching, harvesting, processing & utilizing native foods & medicinals).
• Be able to identify at least 6 invasive plants.
• Be able to identify at least 10 trees (6 native); and 10 shrubs, cacti, and/or groundcover (6 native); plus some of their ethnobotanical uses; and their ideal rain garden zone(s)
Practice:
• Have planted, harvested, processed, and consumed at least three different native plant edibles, plant and utilize at least two different native plant medicinals, and planted a native edible for pets or livestock—while sufficient rain was also planted with earthworks to freely provide the plants’ water needs once established.
Take and provide before and after photos to document your efforts and their results.
• Direct/plant greywater to water-harvesting earthworks to supplement rainwater/stormwater for irrigation. Note: greywater must be kept on the property from which it was generated. Greywater is an excellent supplementary water source for higher-water-use plants such as exotic fruiting trees, shrubs, vines, or cacti. So, don’t plant any exotic fruiting plants until you’ve first planted greywater for them. Rebates available. At minimum, renters can utilize the “Bucket and Chuck It” system.
See chapter 12 of Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 2, 2nd Edition for more info.
Take and provide before and after photos to document your efforts and their results.
• Compost or vermicompost your kitchen scraps.
• Further augment native wildlife habitat.
Plant more diverse and dense native vegetation providing food and shelter.
Install habitat such as a nest box for cavity-nesting native bees; bird nest boxes for Lucy’s warbler, fly catcher, and/or kestrel/screech-owl; bat house; sotol or agave stalk fencing/screens for pollinators, or bird perches; dead native tree branch/log for cavity-nesting native bees, lizards, and bird perches; bare ground for ground-nesting native bees; rock pile for lizards etc. Take photos to document your efforts.
Collaborate with, and help build and cross-pollinate community & capacity:
• Organize/work with neighbors to help them care for their block’s public right-of-way forest. Journal/log the dates, duration, and description of your work (and others you work with.
• Start mentoring those interested in being a Neighborhood Forester and First Level Neighborhood Foresters.
• Co-organize, supervise, and/or teach aspects of a neighborhood forestry event (plantings, harvests, food or medicinal preparations, prunings, mulching, clean ups, invasive plant removal, etc)
• Get certified by Tucson Audubon’s Habitat at Home program, Goldfinch level or higher. Renters can do so just for their balcony if they have one, or work with apartment complex to create a common demonstration garden.
Get support:
Same as Level 1, AND once you achieve this level you are able to check out a Neighborhood Foresters’ pole saw or pole lopper.
Level 3 – Neighborhood Forester & Mentor
• Achievements of Levels 1 and 2 and…
Learn:
• Continue to attend, or even help organize or teach sections of, Neighborhood Foresters community Pruning & Mulching (tree care) workshops and a Neighborhood Foresters community Rain & Tree planting workshops.
Complete pole saw/pole lopper training to keep vegetation clear from power lines.
• Be able to identify at least 9 invasive plants.
• Be able to identify at least 15 trees (10 native); 20 shrubs, cacti, and/or groundcover (15 native); and 1 native fungus (mushroom); plus some of their ethnobotanical uses and guild associates; and their ideal rain garden zone(s)
Practice:
• Have planted, harvested, processed, and consumed at least six native plant edibles, plant and utilize at least four native plant medicinals, and plant at least three different native edibles for pets and/or livestock—while sufficient rain was also planted with earthworks to freely provide the plants’ water needs once established. Take photos to document your efforts.
• Direct/plant air conditioning condensate, evaporative cooler bleed-off water, and/or Reverse Osmosis (RO) water filter discharge to water-harvesting to plantings/earthworks to supplement rainwater/stormwater for irrigation.
Take and provide before and after photos to document your efforts and their results.
• Plant and begin to grow plants from seed (at the beginning of the rainy season) or cuttings in-situ within or beside water-harvesting earthworks, and/or in nursery pots for later transplanting.
Take and provide before and after photos to document your efforts and their results
• Solar cook native food ingredients in a dish or to prepare a drink.
• Compost livestock and/or pet manure to turn “wastes” into safe soil nutrients.
• Reduce light pollution and increase safety by making sure all your outdoor lighting is Dark Sky-compliant and help others do the same. If there is lighting in the public rights-of-ways, advocate for it to be shifted to Dark-Sky-compliant lighting too. Dark Sky-compliant lighting also reduces harm to wildlife, and is healthier to humans. Take before and after photos.
Collaborate with, and help build and cross-pollinate community & capacity:
• Mentor and support those interested in being a Neighborhood Forester, and First and Second Level Neighborhood Foresters
• Co-lead organize, supervise, and/or teach aspects of forestry events. Journal/log the dates, duration, and description of your work (and others you worked with). Take before and after photos to document your efforts.
• Get certified by Tucson Audubon’s Habitat at Home, Thrasher level or higher, and work towards your neighborhood getting certified for Tucson Audubon’s Neighborhood Habitat program.
• Learn from, participate with, other forestry/horticulture/water management/ethnobotany/ecology groups (such as Arizona Native Plant Society, Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Desert Forager, Desert Harvesters, International Dark-Sky Association, Las Milpitas Community Farm, Living Streets Alliance, Mission Gardens, SERI, Sonoran Permaculture Guild, Trees for Tucson Adopt-A-Site, Tucson Audubon, Tucson Herb Store, Tucson Cactus & Succulent Society, Watershed Management Group, etc.)
Get support:
Same as Levels 1 & 2, AND once you achieve this level you are able to check out commercial-grade Neighborhood Foresters’ pole saw, pole lopper, and extension.
Level 4 – Multi-Neighborhood and Watershed Forester
• Achievements of Levels 1, 2, and 3, and…
Learn:
• Continue to attend, or even help organize or teach, a Neighborhood Foresters community Pruning & Mulching (tree care) workshops and a Neighborhood Foresters community Rain & Tree planting workshops. Complete training in how to heal plants harmed by shearing-type pruning with natural pruning techniques.
• Be able to identify at least 12 invasive plants. Link to identification resources
• Be able to identify at least 20 trees (15 native); 30 shrubs, cacti, and/or groundcover (22 native); 3 native fungi (mushroom); plus some of their ethnobotanical uses and guild associates; and their ideal rain garden zone(s)
Practice:
• Have planted, harvested, processed, and consumed at least ten different native plant edibles, plant and utilize at least six different native plant medicinals, and plant at least six different native edibles/medicinals for pets and/or livestock—while sufficient rain was also planted with earthworks to freely provide the plants’ water needs once established.
Take and provide before and after photos to document your efforts and their results.
• Direct/plant dark greywater (kitchen sink drainwater) to supplement rainwater/stormwater for irrigation. Note: dark greywater must be kept on the property from which it was generated. Dark greywater is an excellent supplementary water source for higher-water-use plants such as exotic fruit trees. So, don’t plant any fruit trees until you’ve first planted greywater and/or dark greywater for them. At minimum, renters can utilize the Bucket and Chuck It system. See Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 2, 2nd Edition for more info.
Take photos to document your efforts.
• Compost human manure.
• Utilize Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) techniques to restore desired trees and shrubs that have been cut to stumps or been severely hacked.
Take and provide before and after photos to document your efforts and their results
Collaborate with, and help build and cross-pollinate community & capacity:
• Mentor and support First, Second, and Third Level Neighborhood Foresters
• Help another neighborhood organize, supervise, and/or teach a forestry event with the intention of helping them start or evolve their own neighborhood foresters group. Journal/log the dates, duration, and description of your work (and others you work with). Take before and after photos to document your efforts.
• Get certified by Tucson Audubon’s Habitat at Home, Cardinal level or higher.
Work towards certification through their Habitat at Neighborhood program.
• Get certified by another forestry related group – Watershed Management Group‘s Water Harvesting Certification Course (WHCC) course, Sonoran Permaculture Guild‘s Permaculture Design Course (PDC)
Get support:
Same as Levels 1, 2, & 3.
