In the beginning, the spirit of the UFI hovered over a formless, shapeless, empty, dark space in urban forestry. The Florida Urban Forestry Council (FUFC) said, “Let there be value, enhancement, and sound management of urban forests.
Let there be leadership, collaboration, guidance, and education. Let there be arborists, foresters, landscape architects, planners, nursery growers, vegetation managers, educators, researchers, and other tree-minded people and professions.
Let there be federal, state, and local agencies, utilities, non-profits, and advocacy groups. Let there be research, case studies, presentations, lectures, town halls, networking, sponsors, and advertisers.” And the Urban Forestry Institute (UFI) was created, and it was good!
The UFI is not the genesis, or first chapter of urban forestry, but it is an integral part of Florida. It does hold stories of creative ideas, the evolution and progress of managing trees, forests, forest resources, and professions. Through the years, the UFI has produced sermons and identified the names of patriarchs (movers and shakers) of urban forestry and Florida’s green industry. As with most things that come about – tools, industries, organizations, technologies, practices, policies, programs, and positions – it takes shape over a void, a need, or a vacancy. In the case of the UFI, there was a need for urban forestry practitioners to come together, to unite and begin piecing the urban forestry puzzle together.
There are scriptures, clues, and answers that will shed light on the early history of the UFI. They can be found and reviewed inside the pages of The Council Quarterly newsletter. The need, idea, and conversations about the UFI existed long before it became a formal offering of the FUFC. Still, an early mention of it appears in “The President’s Message,” inside volume 4, 2011:
“In the month of March (8-9) 2012, the FUFC will hold its first annual Urban Forestry Institute at the University of Central Florida Campus where ‘S.O.A.P.’ will be the focus of the seminar. The Council has worked hard over the last year in preparation for this workshop that is intended to provide a quality program by leaders of the urban forestry industry for working professionals in order to develop their knowledge and skills…” At this workshop, the acronym S.O.A.P. was introduced. The message is followed by a brief article, “Coming Soon: The Urban Forestry Institute – March 8-9, 2012, Orlando, FL.”
It is within this issue that the original FUFC logo wrapped in a UFI blue banner appears.
In most cases, volume 4 of The Council Quarterly will promote the upcoming UFI of each subsequent year. For example, The Council Quarterly, vol 4, 2012, promotes the UFI-2013.
UFI Themes & Locations:
UFI 2012 – “S.O.A.P.” University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
UFI 2013 – “Bridging The Gap: Solving the Challenges of Managing the Urban Forest through Collaboration.” University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
UFI-2014 – “Conflict Resolution: Trees versus Infrastructure.” Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
FUFC 2015 Symposium – “The Cost of Not Maintaining Trees.” University of South Florida campus, Tampa, FL.
UFI-2016 – “Urban Forests Forever! Creating a Sustainable and Resilient Urban Forest.” Gainesville, FL.
UFI-2017 – “Climbing to the Next Branch of a Managed Urban Forest.” Valencia College, Orlando, FL.
UFI-2018 – “Natural Disaster Preparation and Response.” University of Florida Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, Wimauma, FL.
UFI 2019 – “Growing Benefits and Trimming Risks in our Municipal Forests.” Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
UFI 2020 – “Expanding Your Canopy.” Stenson University, Deland, FL.
UFI 2021 – “Future Urban Forests – Balance for Success.” This is the first virtual format for the UFI.
UFI 2022 – “CEUs – Community, Environment, and Unity.” Virtual format.
UFI 2023 – “Trees for Resilient Communities.” Virtual Format.
UFI 2024 – “Purpose Driven Canopy.” Virtual format.
UFI 2025 – “Piecing Together Urban Forestry.” Virtual format.
UFI 2026 – “Resilience, Resistance, and Recovery – Designing Urban Forests for Everyone, Everywhere.” Virtual format.
In a quick review, over the years, the UFI has been emphasizing the truth that urban forestry is an action word. In the state of Florida, urban forestry continues to bridge, maintain, climb, prepare, grow, expand, unite, piece together, and resolve conflicts. Each UFI reminds us that there is a purpose and a future everywhere throughout Florida. The UFI encourages us not to go it alone. Urban forestry is BIGGER than the talent, knowledge, experience, and budget of an individual person, profession, agency, or mission. Urban forestry is what we make it. It is our creation.
