OR Dept. of Forestry release - EUGENE, Ore. – Sixteen different speakers and panelists are now confirmed for Oregon’s Urban and Community Forestry Conference on May 15 in Eugene. The conference’s theme is Growing Together: Collaboration and Diverse Voices in Urban Forestry.  Keynote speaker is Christine Carmichael, PhD, founder of Fair Forest Consulting, LLC, of Lansing, Michigan, who will address historic, current and future trends regarding diversity in urban forestry.  The conference is put on by the non-profit organization Oregon Community Trees in partnership with the Oregon Department of Forestry and USDA Forest Service. Co-presenting sponsors are OUR Community Forestry and Portland Urban Forestry. The one-day conference will be held again this year downtown at Venue 252.  Also scheduled to speak are:  Mike Oxendine, founder of OUR Community Forestry based in Talent, Ore. He’ll describe the strategies propelling the organization to rapid, sustainable growth and the programs making an impact in southern Oregon.  Jacklyn Lim and Frankie Thompson with Portland Urban Forestry. They’ll explain how Portland leverages COBID-certified contractors to expand the city’s tree canopy in low-income, low-canopy neighborhoods.  Gena Gastaldi of Portland Bureau of Transportation will talk about how the bureau is working with Portland Urban Forestry to pilot planting street trees in the parking zone of a low-canopy, low-income neighborhood.  Brittany Oxford and Hilary Olivos-Rood from the Oregon Department of Forestry will share their agency’s experiences building relationships with Oregon Tribal communities, including successes, limitations, and opportunities for growth. They will be joined by Brook Colley, an Associate Professor and Chair of the Native American Studies program at Southern Oregon University, and Amanda Craig, who worked most recently as Oregon Project Manager for the Trust for Public Lands‘ Oregon Rural Schoolyards Program.  Colley is an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee. Craig is a citizen of The Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians. They will share their perspectives on what works and doesn’t work when attempting to build more respectful, mutually beneficial relationships with Native communities.  sunny god with Friends of Trees will talk about designing complex organizational and program (eco)systems with care.  There will also be three panelists sharing experiences and ideas for how to recruit people currently under-represented in urban forestry and arboriculture into the profession and help them to flourish within it.  Three other panelists will discuss collaborating with diverse communities to extend the many benefits of shade-tree canopy more widely and in a more equitable manner.  Continuing education credits will be available for conference attendees.  Registration is $180 ($170 if the person registering lives or works in a Tree City USA community). Students can register for $80. Price includes a boxed lunch and a social hour beverage and snacks following the conference. To register, go to Growing Together: Collaboration and Diverse Voices in Urban Forestry.