EASTON, Pa. — Easton is on the lookout for a new conservation management apprentice, with the city council approving a job description for the new position during Wednesday’s meeting.
According to documentation from the Department of Public Works, the apprentice will “perform a variety of administrative and professional work” focusing upon the shade trees in the city, in addition to the “Arboricultural Specifications and Standards of Practice for the City of Easton.”
The apprentice will also participate in forestry and grounds maintenance on public properties and rights-of-way, instruct and train seasonal staff, assist in preparing bid specifications and soliciting quotes from vendors, approving purchases, and ensuring those purchases meet specifications, inspect trees and shrubs for disease while recommending and/or conducting treatment, reviewing landscape and planting plans, and helping city administrators develop and maintain a Master Shade Tree Plan, in addition to other duties.
“The money will assist the city’s effort in urban forestry and complement the $1 million grant the city recently received from the Department of Agriculture to plant trees throughout the city. The position would support the city’s forester."Easton City Administrator Luis Campos
Salary for the position is currently set at $52,000, an addition to the 2024 budget which was also approved at the Jan. 10 meeting.
According to City Administrator Luis Campos, funds for the position came from a federal grant program which aims to improve city forestry programs across the country.
“The money will assist the city’s effort in urban forestry and complement the $1 million grant the city recently received from the Department of Agriculture to plant trees throughout the city. The position would support the city’s forester,” Campos said in a statement.
City Forester Robert Christopher was unavailable for comment, as he was out of office for the week, Campos said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture noted the Forest Service had acquired a “historic” $1.5 billion for its Urban and Community Forestry program “to support tree-planting, urban forest planning and management, and related activities, particularly in disadvantaged communities” in 2023.
The Easton Urban Forest Equity Project, as Campos said, pulled $1 million in funding from that program. Pennsylvania as a whole received nearly $28 million spread across 12 projects.
“This project will expand the City's tree canopy, create an urban forestry apprenticeship, provide trees to residents, parks, and stewards of green spaces, provide better care for existing trees, and provide apprentice training,” the USDA’s Forest Service program awards site states.
Nearby, Allentown's Urban Forest Equity Project received $920,800 in funds to "support urban forest management, with a focus on trees in the public right of way. The proposal includes an updated tree inventory to provide baseline data and identify areas with few public trees, funds to develop an urban forest management and species recommendations, as well as funds to address hazardous street trees through pruning and replanting."
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, planting and maintaining trees in urban areas provides numerous benefits, including “reductions in four air pollutants, (O3, NO2, SO2, PM10), carbon sequestration, decreased stormwater runoff, building energy savings due to shading, and (thanks to city trees), increased real estate values.”
