Whitehall Garden Club Helps with Tree Inventory

The Town of Whitehall received a Montana Forest Action Plan grant from the Montana Urban and Community Forestry Association (MUCFA) to conduct a tree inventory and develop a tree care and management plan for its public trees. The Whitehall Garden Club, MUCFA, City of Whitehall staff, and the Extension Agent are completing the inventory.

Whitehall had 520 trees in its 2013 inventory. The Whitehall public tree inventory has not been updated since 2013. MUCFA's goal is to train enough people in Whitehall to keep the inventory up to date whenever a tree is pruned or removed, or a new tree is planted.

The Whitehall Garden Club is the only Garden Club in Montana actively helping complete and maintain a tree inventory. Barb Lien (also a member of the Trees, Parks, and Cemetery Board), Laura Horn, Glenna Waltee, and Judy Chadwick are helping from the Garden Club.

The Whitehall Garden Club has been around for 27 years, and a native plant garden was one of the first civic projects, started by Glenna and others 19 years ago. They have 35 members, including Master Gardeners, flower farmers, designers, and lots of backyard vegetable gardeners. They installed and continue to maintain Blue Star and Gold Star Memorials in Silver Tower Park. They have hosted six annual Arbor Day events that brought together environmental organizations, government agencies, and green industry professionals.

MUCFA thanks the Whitehall Garden Club for their efforts to help beautify the community. MUCFA believes every city in Montana should have a Garden Club member on its tree and/or park board.