Arborist Work Day group photo. Photo: Dean Marzocca.
The New Jersey Arborists Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (NJAISA) held its annual “Work Day” on Cook/Douglass Campus late last year. NJAISA’s Work Day is an annual event in which professional arborists and urban foresters volunteer a day of work at a location selected by the chapter. The recipient organization pays a fraction of what the total work is worth, and this money goes into the ISA “Tree Fund,” which provides grants for research in arboriculture and urban forestry.
Over 120 people came to campus to participate in Work Day for the benefit of the Tree Fund and Rutgers, the chief beneficiary being the university’s Urban Forestry Program, which is grateful for the partnership and commitment of the NJAISA Chapter. The Work Day participants, a community of committed professionals, provided a wide range of services, including structural pruning for long term canopy training, safety pruning to remove deadwood and removal of several trees with severe structural or health problems.
Work Day volunteer working in tree. Photo: Dean Marzocca.
The work was completed at several locations throughout campus, including along College Farm Road and Red Oak Lane, and near Neilson Dining Hall. In addition, several dead trees as well as invasive species were removed along the Arbor Trail behind the Rutgers Inn and Conference Center.
Jason Grabosky, director of the Rutgers Urban Forestry Program and professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, praised the effort. “This work will improve safety and accessibility for student groups working to redeem the Arbor Trail as a historic garden on campus.”
All work goals and locations were carefully selected by Grabosky and the NJAISA prior to Work Day. It’s estimated that over $100,000 worth of tree work was completed, with approximately $5 million worth of specialized equipment operating simultaneously on campus.
Arborist Work Day along College Farm Road. Photo: Dean Marzocca.
According to Grabosky, in addition to the tremendous value of the work completed, one of the great benefits of Work Day is having so many professionals and so much specialized equipment together in the same place. “It is a terrific opportunity for sharing the latest in technologies and techniques for the industry.”
This is the third time that the NJAISA has brought their Work Day to Rutgers, which allows the campus community an opportunity to see the latest tools and techniques on display. “This is a great day of service to help the university,” said Mike D’Errico, executive secretary of NJAISA. “We always love coming to Rutgers and we’ll be back again.”
The Urban Forestry program at Rutgers includes a certificate option and a major option. Find out more about these options at the website.
Anyone interested in helping with a replanting effort to replace the trees that required removal is encouraged to contact the Urban Forestry program at 848-932-5078 or pam.zipse@rutgers.edu.
