What is a Citizen Forester?
Over the past 34 years, The Greening of Detroit has planted more than 160,000 trees with a lot of help from our volunteers. Beyond our volunteers, who are our shovels in the ground on planting days, The Greening also has a group of highly trained volunteers, the Citizen Foresters, who are responsible for leading groups of up to 20 volunteers on planting days. Citizen Foresters demonstrate best practices for planting a tree, are quality control supervisors, and motivational leaders during our tree planting events in the Spring and Fall.
Beyond tree planting training, Citizen Foresters can also receive training in volunteer management, community outreach, tree identification, maintenance and pruning, invasive species ID and removal, and Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI). The Citizen Forester program is not just about planting trees! Citizen Foresters work in the community with a diverse group of local non-profits, corporations, community groups, and government agencies.
Becoming a Citizen Forester is a great opportunity to develop your leadership skills, gain experience managing volunteers, hone or develop your green thumb, become familiar with different Detroit communities, and meet others while working to make Detroit a greener place.