Stewardship Required: The Power of Interdisciplinary Collaboration for Long -term Function of Urban Natural Areas
Wednesday-Thursday, January 30-31, 2019, 8:30am–3:00pm Most people expect established natural area landscapes to be low maintenance. That concept comes back to haunt us when the realities of invasive weeds, aggressive native species, and plant encroachments demand immediate attention. As the fox said in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince, “You become responsible forever for what you have tamed.” And so, for all the urban natural area plantings we create: stewardship is required. Taken out of the context of wilderness areas, urban natural areas demand attention to the details of plant selection, site design, and maintenance standards to keep them functioning well. The significant costs of deferred maintenance that have been documented for urban trees and landscapes apply equally to urban natural areas. With proactive and timely collaboration between researchers, city planners, site managers, landscape designers and engineers, field crews, volunteer stewards, and others, we have the power to improve and protect this valuable environmental resource in our communities. Join us for this rare opportunity to exchange information across the mix of professions responsible for creating and maintaining urban natural areas. Lunch is included with registration. Full 2 day registration: $175
Single day registration: $95 Discounts available for current full-time students and Corps members (including AmeriCorps and DIRTcorps) |