Represent WRPA on the Washington Community Forestry Council (WCFC)
The Washington Community Forestry Council (WCFC) exists to advise the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Commissioner of Public Lands on urban and community forestry issues across Washington State. The Council works closely with DNR’s Urban and Community Forestry (UCF) Program staff as designees of the Agency in a collaborative and mutually supportive way. More information on the DNR UCF Program can be found here.
The Council typically meets five times per year in February, April, June, September and November. Meetings are virtual and typically scheduled for 3.5 hours with breaks, during regular business hours. In general the Council is focused on advising the UCF Program on special projects, new initiatives, strategic investments, and other relevant topics of interest. In recent years the council has been instrumental in helping the UCF program incorporate principles of equity and environmental justice into delivery of program services.
WCFC Members are appointed to three-year terms and members may serve up to two consecutive terms. WCFC members represent a diverse cross section of communities, professional associations, interest groups, and other organizations across the state with an interest in urban and community forestry issues. The base expectation is that members actively participate in as many of the regularly scheduled meetings as possible, though there is a process for excused absences from meetings with advance notice. Members that are elected to leadership positions, or who volunteer to serve on subcommittees, may have additional obligations outside of regularly scheduled meetings. WCFC members may also be asked on a voluntary basis to review documents, serve as grant reviewers, participate on hiring panels for agency recruitments, or attend local urban forestry events such as Arbor Day.
We are hoping to get two or three interested candidates from the WRPA Membership to serve on the WCFC Board. If you are interested, please contact Ben Thompson [email protected] Urban & Community Forestry Program Manager.