The Sacramento Valley Urban Forests Council serves the region surrounding the California state capital, Sacramento. An active council, the Sacramento Valley Urban Forests Council hosts regular “learn at lunch” workshops. See the events page for more information.
Proposed New Construction at CA State Capitol Park –
Secrecy in the Planning Process and its Effects
Speaker: Paula Peper
Over 100 trees will be impacted, either through removal or through potential moving to new locations, with the planned construction at the State Capitol. Paula will virtually present the planned construction blueprint for the Capitol East Annex Project based on the latest Draft and Recirculated Draft Environmental Impact Reports, the number of trees within the footprint, a bit of their history, the ecosystem services they provide, and the secrecy surrounding the project overall. Her focus is that this State’s people should know and have a say to what happens to their trees, the overall landscape, and the restored Capitol as well as the historic East Annex prior to a shovel hitting the ground.
Paula Peper Bio
Paula spent 28 years in the US Forest Service (USFS), a career that spanned everything from outhouse cleaner to Sierra backcountry patrol to urban ecologist at the USFS Center for Urban Forest Research in Davis, CA. After retirement in 2014, she opened the business as a historical environmental consultant, producing three books on local history, consulting for Sacramento’s indigenous Nisenan Indians, and advising on tree propagation, selection, and preservation. She recently resigned her position of the Historic State Capitol Commission in protest over the secrecy surrounding the new East Annex Project at the State Capitol.
What’s in your Soil? A guide to thinking and problem solving with urban soils
Speaker: Dr. Susan Day
Healthy soils are fundamental to healthy and climate-resilient trees but can seem elusive in cities. In addition, they are often hidden from view and poorly understood. Dr. Day will share her research as well as practical perspective on approaching urban soils: how we can learn about, protect, and manage our own soils in our own communities.
Dr. Susan Day Bio
Dr. Susan Day is a Professor of Urban Forestry in the Department of Forest Resources Management and the Program Director for the urban forestry degree at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Susan’s research focuses on managing urban soils to enhance tree growth and longevity in the context of environmental challenges such as stormwater mitigation and land development impacts on soil-mediated ecosystem services. She helped shape the soils metrics for the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES®) international crediting system for sustainable design projects and developed Soil Profile Rebuilding, a rehabilitation technique to restore damaged urban soils in situ and enhance urban soil carbon storage. Her research in the water relations of tree-engineered soil systems and in partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Trust has informed stormwater policy in the Chesapeake Bay region of the United States. Susan is also currently a partner in the Los Angeles Healthy Trees Healthy Communities initiative. Susan has published more than 130 articles and book chapters on urban forests and urban soils and is the 2017 recipient of the L.C. Chadwick Award for Arboricultural Research. Susan holds a B.A. from Yale University, an M.S. from Cornell University, and a Ph.D. from Virginia Tech.
Representatives
Anne Fenkner
Representative
Julia Gowin, PhD
Representative