Readiness, Response and Recovery: Managing Urban Forests for Disasters

DESCRIPTION
This workshop will build awareness of the processes, contracts and coordination needed to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters affecting our urban forests. It will highlight key aspects from the newly developed storm planning guide and provide practical tips from those who have experienced storms and navigated the process to prepare, respond and recover including being reimbursed by FEMA and replanting the urban forest as part of recovery. Get tips from experts who’ve experienced the challenges and pitfalls firsthand and better prepare your community for the next storm.

PROGRAM
9:00 – 9:30: Registration
9:30 – 12:00: Readiness, Response and Recovery – Karen Firehock and Darren Green
12:00 – 1:00: Lunch
1:00 – 2:00: TN Emergency Management Agency Representative(s)
2:00 – 2:45: Update on TN’s Urban & Community Forestry Program and Funding Opportunities
2:45 – 3:00: Closing

COST $25

PRESENTER BIOS
Karen E. Firehock, Executive Director, AICP
Ms. Firehock co-founded the national Green Infrastructure Center Inc. in 2007. The center maps, models and creates strategies to conserve or restore natural resources in both wild and urban landscapes. She has directed 100 green infrastructure planning projects, many of which focus on resiliency of forests such as her three-state study of the resiliency of coastal forests, her 12-city study of the role of trees in stormwater uptake, and her recently completed study of the intact forested habitats of South Carolina. Her national book, Strategic Green Infrastructure Planning: A Multi-scale Approach describes how to craft a green infrastructure plan, and her most recent book Green Infrastructure: Map and Plan the Natural World in GIS details the steps to model natural resources for large landscapes. She is most proud of her recent guide Tree Planning and Planting Campaigns: A Guide for Reforesting Cities and Towns. She has a B.S. in Natural Resources Management from UMD and a M.P. Urban and Environmental Planning from UVA. She is currently adjunct faculty at UVA’s School of Architecture in Planning and Landscape Architecture. When she is not at work, you might find her relaxing under her large American Beech tree in her yard or hiking or camping in a southern forest.

Darren Green
Darren has been the Landscape Architect for the City of Alexandria, Louisiana since 2001. His principal responsibilities include overseeing the management of all public trees, administering the City’s Tree & Landscape Ordinance, managing the maintenance of landscape improvements in city parks and green spaces, and coordinates consultants designing streetscape and park improvement projects. He also maintains a small landscape architecture practice and consults with other Landscape Architects throughout the State on arboricultural issues. He received an Associate of Science in Horticulture from University of Louisiana at Monroe in 1987 and a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University in 1992. Darren has served as President of the Louisiana Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Louisiana Urban Forestry Council, and the Society of Municipal Arborists.