Old description:

The Wellness Center on campus is working to promote a Culture of Wellness for our University students, faculty, and staff.  This office has been collecting information on the Walkability of campus pathways.  By working with volunteers to perform walking audits, the Wellness Center is collecting detailed comments and notes about walking around campus.  This information will be shared with Facilities and Services and incorporated into project prioritization for sidewalk improvements.

http://wellness.illinois.edu/iWalk/walkFeatured.html

This description has been moved to the Background

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, according to the U of I Master Plan, measures more than a whopping 8,000 acres of land in the Master Plan Area. On that land grows too many trees to count… or so you thought.

F&S helps count and maintain all 16,534 trees on U of I grounds. All are viewable through the U of I’s “TreeKeeper” database: https://illinoisedu.treekeepersoftware.com/index.cfm?deviceWidth=1280.

That includes more than one “State Champion” tree – meaning it is the largest of its species in Illinois.

“These trees, and all of them on campus, are valuable and a privilege to take care of,” said Brent Lewis, F&S landscape architect. “Having champions on campus shows the ability of our grounds professionals to carefully tend to their needs over many decades of time, ultimately allowing them to grow into the great specimens that we often take for granted.”

The Carolina Silverbell in the backyard of the President’s House is the latest state champion tree on campus, joining the yellowwood found in the green space north of Lincoln Avenue Residence Hall, which attained champion status on Arbor Day 2019.

In April, UIUC experts and students visited and measured the tree, confirming its status as the largest tree of its kind in the state.

“The two multi-stemmed specimens behind the President’s House are the two largest specimens of this species I’ve personally seen. Granted, I don’t come across this species very often,” said Jay Hayek, extension forestry specialist with the department of natural sciences and environmental sciences. “Carolina Silverbell is considered a state-listed endangered species here in Illinois. Its natural range is limited to just two southern Illinois counties: Massac and Pulaski. It’s not that Carolina silverbell is necessarily so ‘rare,’ it’s just that this species is simply at the extreme edge of its natural range by extending ever so slightly into the southern tip of Illinois. Even in its more natural habitat, this species is relatively uncommon.”

Since 2015, Illinois has been recognized as a Tree Campus USA, meaning the colleges and universities that most effectively manage their campus trees in an academic atmosphere. The F&S executive director charges the Campus Tree Advisory Committee, a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency outreach effort to plan forestry efforts. The Illinois Tree Campus plan is available at http://go.fs.illinois.edu/treecampus. All aid in the effort to promote healthy trees on campus and engagement with students, faculty, staff, and community members in the spirit of conservation.

Three key measurements are taken: the trunk’s circumference 4.5 feet above the ground, total height, and the average “crown spread,” which is how far the branches grow out. The tree’s “total score” is equivalent to the circumference (in inches) + height (in feet) + the average crown spread (in feet) multiplied by 0.25.

The new champion tree measurements:

Circumference = 5.57 feet or 66.8 inches • Total Height = 60 feet • Crown Spread: 54.8 feet

Total Score = 140.5 points

Via F&S Insider,

website: https://fs.web.illinois.edu/Insider/2021/07/06/what-it-takes-to-be-a-cha...

On Oct 6, 2021 Jenny Kokini, Amy Rosenbery, Tony Spurlock, Morgan White, and Meredith Moore met to discuss an RFP for carbon credit replacement. Attached is a draft solicitation request.

We would prefer to keep the ability to add new projects to a very limited few people.  Instead of giving Liz access to add a project, let’s get a quick process to add them upon her request. 

1)      Please email me, Meredith, and Sarthak with a short project description, and the proposed new iCAP Project location in the hierarchy. 

2)      Meredith and/or I will confirm the placement in the hierarchy.

3)      Sarthak will add a blank private project as a placeholder and email you.

4)      Liz or anyone in the SSC with access will fill in the project information and change it to public.

  ~Morgan