The Arkansas Forestry Commission's request for UFST assistance in northern Arkansas has been filled by Task Specialists from three states. These include: North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

These Task Specialists will be assisting Patti Erwin, John Slater, and Scott Noble of the Arkansas Forestry Commission (AFC), and Eric Kuehler from Urban Forestry South. Arkansas Forestry Commission will be providing the GPS data collectors and Jim Jolly, GIS Specialist for AFC, will be assisting with that equipment setup and training.

John Slater with UFST experience from Tulsa and Baton Rouge will be Team Leader Trainee; Jim Clark will provide Team Leader support.

The team will be working with several communities in northern Arkansas:

• Fayetteville
• Springdale
  
• Harrison
• Jonesboro
• Mountain Home
• Bentonville
  

Task Specialists:

• Alan Moore (NC)
• Daniel Duncum (TX)
• Jason Ellis (TX)
• Pete Smith (TX)
• Wes Moorehead (TX)
• Jim Clark (VA)
  
• Hugh Whitehead (VA)
• Doug Petersen (VA)
• Scott Noble (AR)

Patti Erwin, Susan Reisch, and Dudley Hartel met Friday morning at the "Command Center" (electricity, heat, coffee, food & wireless) to discuss the initial steps that should be taken prepare for an UFST response. They went over the coordinator's checklist, GIS layers that would be helpful, and response prioritization.

Patti Erwin (U&CF Coordinator), John Slater (U&CF Partnership Coordinator), Susan Reisch (U&CF Coordinator in Georgia), and Dudley Hartel (USDA FS) made a quick tour of northern Washington County on Thursday afternoon. They visited the city of Springdale, and then attended a Washington County Emergency Management briefing.

At that meeting, Patti and Dudley gave a very brief introduction to the UFSTs and their capabilities. The Director expressed interest in calling out these resources (UFST); we quickly indicated that UFST was operating outside of EMAC and that Arkansas Forestry Commission was the point of contact in the interim. We stayed for part of that meeting and learned firsthand how emergency management was working at the local level.

Following that meeting, we meet at Fayetteville City Hall with City Arborist, Greg Howe. We spent about 20 minutes with him explaining the risk assessment process, expected products, and the role the City would play in the response. He immediately began a search for GIS layers (for us) and prepared briefing material for City management.

Patti Erwin, Arkansas Forestry Commission U&CF Coordinator hosted a joint meeting of U&CF Coordinators and Communication Chiefs from the 13 southern states. The meeting was scheduled for January 26th - 29th, and most participants arrived with the 2009 Ice Storm that covered parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky.

By Noon on the 27th, ice was continuing to accumulate and at about 2pm we lost power at the hotel. Our final presentation on "social media" (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, flicker, RSS) was held by candlelight!

^{Powerpoint by Candlelight                                                                            John Slater, 2009}

Wednesday morning, still no power! Mayor Lioneld Jordon (who welcomed us on Tuesday morning) provided a meeting space with electricity and coffee pot for the day at City Hall.

^{Trek to City Hall & Heat!                                                                               John Slater, 2009}

On Wednesday morning, Leslie Moorman (NC), Paul Revell (VA), Pete Smith (TX), and Dudley Hartel (USDA FS) briefed the coordinators on the status of the urban forestry disaster response project (Urban Forest Strike Team). Quite timely!

On Thursday we concluded the meeting with tours (with minor modifications) of green infrastruture in Fayetteville. The airport, major highways, and most roads were open at that time and at Noon the meeting concluded and everyone was able to return home. [drh]