The Urban Community Forestry Society (UCFS), formally the Society of Municipal Arborists, is accepting applications for the Arborist Exchange Program. The Arborist Exchange Program offers municipal foresters, utility arborists, and tree nonprofit managers the opportunity to engage with colleagues and experience urban forestry challenges and successes in varying political and cultural settings.

During the program, participants connect with another arborist from a city of similar size and climate who speaks a shared language. The applicants spend at least one week in one another's community and the host city's forestry department, learning about their jobs, department goals, and how challenges are met working under different circumstances.

According to the program's website, the exchange aims to "create a way for urban forest managers to exchange expertise, ideas, and technology through "in-person" contact and on-site experience."

To apply, candidates must be a member of the SMA; however, candidates can apply to the program immediately upon joining. Additionally, candidates must be employed within the urban forestry profession for at least two years.

Throughout the week, participants will have the opportunity to dig deep into urban forestry as seen by a municipal arborist, utility arborist, or nonprofit professional, understand tree management from another perspective, test assumptions, experience peer-to-peer learning, and learn new techniques and solutions to shared challenges.

To learn more about the Arborist Exchange Program and to apply, visit their website. Applications are due by 30 May 2024.