Symposium to Highlight Role of Trees in Improving Water Quality

Moline, Illinois – (September 2, 2010) Trees Forever, a nonprofit Midwest environmental organization, will be hosting a Trees & Water Quality Symposium on Thursday, September 9. The symposium will feature national and regional speakers discussing the role of trees and other vegetation in helping to improve rural and urban water quality. Several national and regional speakers will share their perspectives on the topic.

The event will run from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Stoney Creek Inn in Moline, Illinois. The symposium is open to the public. Registration begins at 8:30 am. The cost for the symposium, which includes lunch, is $15 for Trees Forever members or $20 for non-members. Please pre-register by calling 1-800-369-1269 ext.16, or click here.

The Trees & Water Quality Symposium will feature two distinct workshop tracks. One will focus on farmers and agricultural uses of trees and vegetative buffers. The other will highlight the benefits and uses of trees in urban and community watersheds. The afternoon community session will feature a panel discussion on the impact of the Emerald Ash Borer infestation on communities and their watersheds.

The morning keynote address will feature Dr, Tom Sauer from the National Laboratory for Agriculture & the Environment. Dr. Sauer will look at the historic role of trees in agriculture, and how they can be of benefit again today.

The luncheon keynote speaker will be Randy Neprash, a civil engineer with the Bonestroo engineering group in Minnesota. Randy will share his knowledge and passion about the use of trees in stormwater management. As the chair of the Minnesota Cities Stormwater Coalition, he advocates for the role of trees as green infrastructure.

Trees Forever, based in Marion, Iowa, provides water quality and watershed-based programs and projects in Iowa and Illinois. These programs provide technical assistance and funding for buffers and other watershed systems that help improve water quality and reduce soil erosion.

The Trees Forever Trees & Water Quality Symposium is funded, in part, by the Illinois EPA through Section 319 of the Clean Water Act. Other sponsors include the US Forest Service, Syngenta Crop Protection, and the Illinois Council on Best Management Practices. Supporting partners include the Illinois and Iowa Departments of Natural Resources and the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

For more information on the Trees & Water Quality Symposium, or to register for the event, please call 1-800-369-1269 ext. 16, or click here.