Each year, the Society of Municipal Arborists sponsors the Municipal Forestry Institute, or MFI. This upcoming year, through good fortune and the hard work of the Tree Wardens Association of Connecticut, the MFI will be held in Connecticut. We would like to encourage everyone with an interest in municipal trees to consider attending.

MFI is primarily a leadership academy, during which the attendees listen to talks and take part in various scenarios and exercises. These exercises help them understand individual strengths, the differences among people, and the roles the people are asked to play in various circumstances. As almost everyone in attendance is in some way affiliated with municipal forestry, all of the scenarios and topics discussed end up connecting back to trees in some manner.

The program may not work for everyone, but it seems everyone who has attended has found it well worth their while. It is intensive and immersive – you arrive on Sunday afternoon and stay at the meeting facility until Friday noon. It will take some work on your part – including some pre-work that helps to set-up the week-long Institute. But the rewards are very real – just ask anyone who has participated in a past MFI.

The 2018 MFI will be held the week of February 18-23 at the Wisdom House in Litchfield.

If interested, please take a look at the MFI announcement page.  The application form is linked off of that page.  I would certainly be interested in answering any questions, as would others who have attended an MFI.

Seriously, do yourself a favor and give it some thought.

Chris Donnelly
Urban Forestry Coordinator
CT DEEP Forestry
chris.donnelly@ct.gov