Teresa Gustafson, OCT's Vice President, Named Arborist of the Year
LaGrande, Ore. – Teresa Gustafson, Urban Forester for the City of La Grande and OCT Vice President, was named the 2025 Arborist of the Year by the International Society of Arboriculture’s Pacific Northwest Chapter. The award honors her decades of urban forestry experience and invaluable leadership within the City of LaGrande to support the urban trees and green spaces. Beyond her work in LaGrande, Gustafson has served for nearly a decade on the Oregon Community Trees Board of Directors. Well deserved congratulations to Teresa for her many contributions to Oregon's urban forests and the broader community! Read much more about Teresa's many contributions and her award here.
Oregon Community Trees and ODF Seek Nominees for Urban Forestry Award Program
Oregon Community Trees and the Oregon Department of Forestry are seeking nominees for their Urban and Community Forestry Award Program. For the past 30 years, the awards have recognized people, communities, and organizations in the state who have outstanding accomplishments and shown leadership in urban and community forestry. The goal of the awards program is two-fold: to celebrateOregonians who understand that healthy urban forests foster thriving communities and to encourage support from their community leaders. Nominationsare due no later than Wednesday, Dec, 31, 2025.
Nominate on the OCT website at: https://www.oregoncommunitytrees.org/statewide-awards
Award Categories
The Individual Award is given to a person who has made significantcontributions to urban forestry in Oregon. This may be in tree planting and care, engaging people in community forestry, raising awareness about urban trees, and protecting Oregon’s urban forests.The Organization Award isgiven to a business, non-profit, school or municipality actively promoting healthier communities in Oregon through education, awareness, advocacy and investment in our urban forests.
The President's Award is selected by OCT’s Board Chair. Itrecognizes outstanding contributions or lifetime achievements in the field of urban forestry.
2025 Urban & Community Forestry Award Recipients
Organization Award - OUR Community ForestryIndividualAward - Mari Aviles, City of Portland
IndividualAward - Maura Olivos, Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District
President’s Award - Chris Neamtzu, City of Wilsonville
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Chris Neamtzu honored for three decades of dedication to enhancing Wilsonville's green infrastructure
WILSONVILLE, Ore. – Oregon Community Trees (OCT) and the Oregon Department of Forestry have honored Wilsonville Community Development Director Chris Neamtzu for his many achievements related to building up the city’s green
infrastructure.Neamtzu, who is retiring after 30 years with Wilsonville’s Community Development Department, received OCT’s President’s Award at the City Council meeting on April 21, 2025.
OCT President Jim Gersbach noted that Neamtzu helped plan and construct nearly all of Wilsonville’s parks over the past three decades and played integral parts in the development of the city’s urban forestry program and tree preservation efforts, including
obtaining decades of Tree City USA awards for the City. Neamtzu also assisted wih developing the city’s first tree code in 1998, as well as a comprehensive natural resources management program, adopted in 2001. It remains in place today and continues to balance the needs of citizens while protecting important natural resources citywide.He also had a major hand in the redevelopment of the Dammasch State Hospital into the award-winning, master-planned community of Villebois. There, preservation of trees, parks and ppen spaces created a leafy neighborhood with immediate access to nature.
Neamtzu served on theOregon Community Trees Board of Directors for 10-years and is also a former President, where he served in a statewide capacity to promote awareness of
urban forestry.Urban Forestry Awards & Grants
Since 1994, Oregon Community Trees and the Oregon Department of Forestry have recognized individuals, communities, and organizations in the state who demonstrate outstanding accomplishments and leadership in urban and community forestry. The annual Oregon Urban & Community Forestry Awards Program celebrates Oregonians who understand that healthy urban and community forests foster thriving communities.
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