The CUSH Environmental Justice Task Force held a meeting on January 14, 2026 at the Southwest Library.
As part of its ongoing effort to educate its members about barriers to increasing and maintaining urban tree canopy and ways to overcome those barriers, the Task Force hosted arborist Kevin Nolan, who presented “Branching Out: Common Problems and Sensible Solutions to Promote a Healthy Urban Forest”.
Some highlights of his engaging presentation:
Properly planting a tree requires a lot of knowledge
- Packed soil ball will make it hard for the tree to grow (ball and burlap)
- No wire baskets
Common site issues
- Soil issues
- Salt contamination
- Areas of planting too small
Reliance on homeowner management after tree is planted
- Overfertilization (Slow growth is good!)
- Plant small and think big (plant smaller trees!)
- Reduced cost
- Ease of transport
- Reduced plant stress
- Improved growth rate
The Task Force also reviewed
The design of its “Value of Trees” T-shirts for the order to be sent on February 5th. If interested, contact Karen Kempinen, kkempinen@gmail.com 262-945-2091
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-p9v3C-lNp-O_PCSHAqbAU3RJvnKn_mXmpUSfOCXm5Y/edit?usp=sharing
The Wild Ones Root River chapter Native Pollinator Grants, for which congregations may want to apply.
https://files.constantcontact.com/4268c95f901/19d1e918-1477-46e5-b091-87423f95a659.pdf?rdr=true
Karen Kempinen, Co-Chair, CUSH Environmental Justice Task Force
