Iowa Community Tree Stewards Program Offered for Polk County Area

DES MOINES, Iowa – Residents of Polk and surrounding counties have the opportunity to attend the Iowa Community Tree Steward program being offered by Iowa State University Extension Forestry in August and September 2012. The course is open to professions and all residents interested in learning more about trees and tree care.

The course, the first step in becoming a certified Iowa Community Tree Steward, will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday evenings beginning Aug. 22. The seven hands-on classes will cover tree identification, tree selection, pruning, planting, disease and insect management, hazard tree assessment, community inventory methods and other information. The registration fee is $45 per person or $55 for couples who wish to share one course notebook. Each graduate is expected to contribute back 28 hours of volunteer service to the local community. Volunteer service options will be identified during the course.

For more information about the course, contact Mary Farlow, ISU Polk County Extension, at 515-957-5760 or Jesse Randall at 515-294-1168 or randallj@iastate.edu. Course details and applications can be downloaded at www.extension.iastate.edu/forestry/education/treesteward.html. The deadline to apply is July 20.

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