Summer 2011 TREE Fund Report: TREE Fund Board Welcomes Wendy Robinson
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Like most arborists, Wendy Robinson has never strayed far from trees. She grew up among the forested hills of Gresham, OR, and currently nurtures an evolving collection of poplar, juniper, spruce, pine and oak trees on her 12-acre farm in Bend, OR.
Robinson is the Senior Planner for the City of Bend, a certified arborist, a perennial volunteer for the TREE Fund and the newest addition to its Board of Trustees. She is stepping up to fill the remainder of Jeff Carney’s term as Chair of the TREE Fund Liaison Committee following Carney’s acceptance of a 3-year term on the TREE Fund Board.
While “tree people” often express their creativity in woodwork, Robinson works in a different medium: cashmere harvested from her six goats. The goats share space in her barn with horses, Shetland ponies, a few chickens, two dogs and “a bunch of cats”. Robinson spins and knits the cashmere into outrageously soft socks that defy the damp chill of March in Oregon.
Although her role as urban planner involves more long-range development analysis than arboriculture, Robinson’s ISA certification ensures that she is consulted on questions and issues related to Bend’s trees. She also is an active member of ISA’s PNW Chapter, serving as Chapter secretary for many years before finding her true calling as TREE Fund Liaison when Jim Barborinas relinquished the role 4 years ago.
Robinson’s creativity and drive are on full display at PNW’s Chapter conferences, especially the Chapter’s annual auction to benefit the TREE Fund. In recent years she has taken a leading role in the development and execution of the TREE Fund’s annual “Raise Your Hand for Research” auction, and she sees the chairmanship of the Liaison Committee as a natural next step. “This committee has enormous potential to evolve and achieve,” she said. “We have smart, talented and motivated people who are 100% behind the TREE Fund and its mission. We have the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the future of arboriculture. I’m looking forward to it!”