The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Community forestry a growing vocation
Holden Forests & Gardens launches arborist education program that pays participants as they learn
Esteban Arias Soto of Eastlake was busy caring for two rambunctious preschoolers when he learned of a career opportunity that piqued his interest.
His wife saw information on the Holden Forests & Gardens website about the Tree Corps.
The pilot arboriculture workforce development program is designed to fill a void in the community forestry field.
The 19-week course provides training and entrylevel job placement for area residents in the tree care industry. Funded with a Cleveland Foundation grant, Tree Corps also works to support Cleveland’s urban tree canopy on public and private property.
Participants are paid to work 30 hours a week during
the program, which kicked off April 2. Classroom
lessons are combined with hands-on training.
“I am a nature lover and outdoorsman,” said Soto, 36. “I was excited to learn all I could about trees and how to be in this field.”
Community forestry is a growing industry, said Cait Anastis, a Holden Forests & Gardens spokeswoman.
“Cleveland is trying to increase its urban forest by 30 percent,” she said.
She noted that the course might be worth considering for members of the community who are looking at changing professions, moving to a new stage of their career or just starting out. Applicants for the next round of training will be taken in early 2019.
“You’ve got a real environmental need to take care of trees in this area,” she said. “While you have a fairly healthy urban forest in this county, Lake County residents will benefit from having a healthier urban forest to the west in Cleveland. We all share the same lake.”
Re-establishing Forest City
It is estimated that trees provide Cleveland with more than $28 million in services each year, including helping to manage stormwater runoff, removing 42,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, increasing property values, providing habitat for wildlife, preventing erosion and contributing to residents’ health.
Once known as The Forest City, Cleveland is losing an estimated 97 acres of tree canopy each year — about 100,000 street trees since the 1940s, according to the Cleveland Tree Plan.