Urban Forestry Commission Regular Meeting
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Note: This summary is based on published meeting minutes.
What Happened
The Reno Urban Forestry Commission held a regular meeting on January 21, 2026, with six items on the agenda including leadership elections, a tree planting event location decision, and ongoing discussions about trees and Earth Day planning.
Key Decisions
APPROVED — Gary Jentink as Commission Chair — unanimously — sets leadership for the year ahead.
APPROVED — Joe Tuvell as Commission Vice Chair — unanimously — establishes second-in-command position.
APPROVED — Connie Taylor as Commission Secretary — unanimously — continues administrative support role.
APPROVED — Paradise Park as location for April 25 volunteer tree planting event and potential birdhouse project with elementary school students — unanimously — selected after rejecting dog park option due to irrigation and power line complications.
Debated But Not Resolved
Trees booklet format — Commission members disagreed on whether to organize by common name or genus, whether to include a commercial-use list, and how to add indexing and numbering. Next step: Members will submit suggestions for additions, deletions, and tree numbering by next meeting.
Earth Day sapling order — Commission uncertain how many saplings to purchase and whether to include seed packets again (noted as difficult to grow). Next step: Urban Forester Basile will prepare a proposed order for decision at the next meeting.
What to Watch
No items over $50,000 approved at this meeting.
Municipal Code 8.32 Development Code revision (second part) — The commission will move forward after collecting public input on the first part, but Council Liaison Duerr warned it will likely take longer than the initial revision. This affects how tree requirements are built into Reno development rules.
Earth Day saplings contract — A vendor in Oregon will supply saplings at a couple dollars each, but the final order and total cost will be decided next meeting once the commission approves quantity and format.
Microforest project — Identified as a future agenda item that will require site selection and development planning. Details pending.
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