Urban foresters from all over US training in Rome this week

The Rome-Floyd County ECO Center will host four-day event.

The workshop will be hosted the by the U.S. Forest Service and Georgia Forestry Commission.

Arborists from all over the country will be in Rome this week to train for emergency weather damage and response.

The workshop, hosted by the U.S. Forest Service and Georgia Forestry Commission, will be based out of the Rome-Floyd County ECO Center in Ridge Ferry Park.

Teams of arborists will be visible throughout the community today through Thursday conducting emergency response exercises.

The Georgia Forestry Commission created Urban Forest Strike Teams several years ago and has hosted exercises previously in Forsyth and Savannah.

Joan Scales, director of the forestry commission’s Sustainable Community Forestry Program, said the goal of the training is to help arborists quickly assess the condition of trees on public property following a natural disaster, such as tornado or hurricane.

Rome arborist Terry Paige said a flood is the most likely disaster to hit Rome but tornadoes are also frequent.

The training is also designed to help arborists collect data about debris, which can help demonstrate the need for federal disaster assistance. Paige said that knowing how to do a Federal

Emergency Management Agency certified assessment is the key to the training exercise. He said the Urban Forest Strike Teams have to be requested by a community to come in following a catastrophic event.

“Wednesday and Thursday will be the main days,” Paige said. “They think that downtown and the Between the Rivers Historic District will be a great place for some training as well as our parks and trails.”

Paige also said that having the training exercise in Rome will benefit the community but putting a lot more eyes on trees throughout the community.

“If they see anything that we’ve missed they’ll let us know,” Paige said.

Wendy Burnett, public relations director for the Georgia Forestry Commission said that identification of at-risk trees will be a big part of the training along with safety training related to everything from chainsaws to heavy equipment needed for debris removal.

“It’s going to be intense,” Burnett said.

Paige said urban foresters and arborists from Texas to New York will be in Rome for the training.

For more information about tree health, storm cleanup, and services of the Georgia Forestry Commission, visit www. GaTrees.org.