Each year, Friends of the Urban Forest offers the Community Forester Training (ComForT), a seven-week course designed to help you become the best volunteer arborist you can be. Whether you’re an experienced FUF volunteer, or are new to FUF’s programs, this is an opportunity to deepen your knowledge and experience with trees.
A Citizen Forester (now called Community Forester) participates in a Tree Tour of the Duboce Triangle neighborhood, February 2011.
What is a Community Forester?
Simply put, Community Foresters are FUF’s elite “Tree Corps.” With their experience in the field, and premier training in many areas of San Francisco urban forestry, Community Foresters are leaders in the FUF volunteer community.
What does the training include?
Each year the training is taught by premier guest speakers and our own FUF staff members. Topics include San Francisco urban forest history, tree biology and structural pruning, tree identification, proper tree planting procedures, community advocacy and volunteer leadership, environmental justice, and urban restoration ecology.
What’s the schedule?
The training includes classroom lectures on Wednesdays, and field sessions on weekends in various locations. The 2021 training happened from January 20 through March 7. We have not yet set the schedule for 2022.
Friends of the Urban Forest planted this Red Flowering Gum (Corymbia ficifolia) in Hayes Valley in 1981, the year we began. It’s still thriving today. Photo by Lisa Guide.
How much does it cost?
The cost to you is simply a commitment to 20 hours of volunteering with FUF after the completion of the course. If you wish to learn but cannot commit time to volunteering, we’ll accept a $300 course fee in lieu of service. However, because FUF performs most of its work with the help of volunteers, service hours are the preferred payment option.
How do I register?
When we’re ready to accept registrations for the Spring 2022 training, we’ll update this page with instructions, and we’ll notify our community via our e-newsletter, Facebook, and Twitter. If you’re not already subscribed to our e-news, you can subscribe here.
We look forward to showing you how to give some TLC and much needed “ComForT” to the trees of San Francisco.