Western Urban & Community Forestry Committee

Western Urban & Community Forestry Committee

The Western Urban & Community Forestry Committee (WUCF) was established as a forum to share information, collaborate on program delivery, and advance urban & community forestry (U&CF) in the West.

The WUCF Committee provides a channel for ongoing communication and collaboration between western states, the USDA Forest Service, and forestry partners. The WUCF Committee creates opportunities to leverage and share resources, expand the transfer of technology, and cooperate on shared goals and initiatives, including multi-state competitive grant applications. The WUCF Committee gathers for an annual meeting and connects quarterly via conference calls to coordinate their ongoing collaboration.

The WUCF Committee addresses emerging and ongoing U&CF issues at both the state and national level. It is a source of information and support for both the Council of Western State Foresters (CWSF) and the National Association of State Foresters. 

Membership of the WUCF Committee includes U&CF coordinators from 17 western states and six U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands, as well as a liaison from CWSF and representation from the USDA Forest Service.

The WUCF Committee is led by a leadership team and is rotated on an annual basis. The 2022 leadership team includes: 

  • Chair: Cayenne Engel (NV) 
  • Vice Chair: Walter Passmore (CA) 
  • Secretary: Alyssa O'Brien (NM)
  • Past Chair: Heather McMillen (HI)  
  • State Forester Advisor: Tom Claeys (ND)
  • WFLC Staff Liaison: Laura Wagner  

If you wish to contact a member of the WUCF Committee, please contact Laura Wagner.

Photo: Joshua Larson

Accomplishments 

Each year, the WUCF leadership team produces a report for the WFLC Fall Meeting. This report highlights key accomplishments from the past year and a look at work for the year ahead. Recent reports are featured below:

Spotlight on Nebraska

Bayard, NE, proudly wears its Tree City USA status because it didn’t come easily. In June 2017, two tornados touched down in and around the small city of 1,000 people, causing widespread property damage. The storms also did a number on the area’s trees.

Learn more in Nebraska's featured blog post. 

Publications

The WUCF Committee produces publications highlighting U&CF stories from across the western region.

The latest publication, Building Equity Through Community Forestry Connections, features stories from 14 western states and American Samoa. Stories are centered around the themes of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, along with the interrelated topics of environmental and social justice.

Past publications are featured below: 

Individual stories from each publication are categorized below under each state/island name: 

Alaska

Featured stories from Alaska include: 

For more information, visit http://forestry.alaska.gov/community/index.

American Samoa

Featured stories from American Samoa include: 

For more information, visit http://www.amsamoa.edu/institution/cnr.html.

Arizona

Featured stories from Arizona include: 

For more information, visit https://dffm.az.gov/forestry-community-forestry/urban-community-forestry. 

California

Featured stories from California include: 

For more information, visit https://www.fire.ca.gov/programs/resource-management/resource-protection-improvement/urban-community-forestry/.

Colorado

Featured stories from Colorado include: 

For more information, visit https://csfs.colostate.edu/forest-management/community-urban-forestry/.

Federated States of Micronesia

Featured stories from the Federated States of Micronesia include: 

Guam

Featured stories from Guam include: 

For more information, visit https://doag.guam.gov/forestry/.

Hawai‘i

Featured stories from Hawai‘i include: 

For more information, visit https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/forestry/lap/kaulunani/.

Idaho

Featured stories from Idaho include: 

For more information, visit https://www.idl.idaho.gov/forestry/urban-and-community-forestry/. 

Kansas

Featured stories from Kansas include: 

For more information, visit https://www.kansasforests.org/community_forestry/.

Montana

Featured stories from Montana include: 

For more information, visit http://dnrc.mt.gov/divisions/forestry/forestry-assistance/urban-and-community-forestry. 

Nebraska

Featured stories from Nebraska include: 

For more information, visit https://nfs.unl.edu/. 

Nevada

Featured stories from Nevada include: 

For more information, visit https://forestry.nv.gov/natural-resource-management/urban-and-community-forestry.

New Mexico

Featured stories from New Mexico include: 

For more information, visit https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/sfd/urban-and-community-forestry/. 

North Dakota

Featured stories from North Dakota include: 

For more information, visit www.ag.ndsu.edu/ndfs.

Oregon

Featured stories from Oregon include: 

For more information, visit https://www.oregon.gov/ODF/ForestBenefits/Pages/UrbanForests.aspx.

South Dakota

Featured stories from South Dakota include: 

For more information, visit https://danr.sd.gov/Conservation/Forestry/default.aspx.

Utah

Featured stories from Utah include: 

For more information, visit https://ffsl.utah.gov/forestry/urban-and-community-forestry/.

Washington

Featured stories from Washington include: 

For more information, visit https://www.dnr.wa.gov/urbanforestry.

Wyoming

Featured stories from Wyoming include: 

For more information, visit https://wsfd.wyo.gov/forestry-assistance-programs/community-forestry. 

For more information on the WUCF publication or state stories, contact Sara Goodwin.