City forester honored with Urban Forestry Leadership Award

Rhinelander’s volunteer city forester, Tom Jerow, has been named the recipient of the Wisconsin Urban Forestry Council’s Leadership Award, one of four annual honors the council presents to outstanding individuals, organizations, communities and tribes that further urban forestry in Wisconsin.
The award was presented  during the Feb. 23 common council meeting by Rex Zemke on behalf of the Wisconsin Urban Forestry Council, a 24-member body appointed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources secretary to advise the state forester on preserving, protecting, expanding and improving Wisconsin’s urban forestry resources.
Zemke said Jerow earned the recognition through his work establishing the city’s urban forestry tree board, which he chairs, and through the board helping to create an urban forestry fund at the Rhinelander Community Foundation. Together, those efforts have secured more than $300,000 in urban forestry grants and gifts for the city.
He noted that achieving those results as a volunteer in a small Northwoods community surrounded by thousands of acres of forest presents a unique challenge, because residents and elected officials often take trees for granted when natural forests are so abundant nearby.
“To convince elected officials, municipal staff and residents of the importance and benefits of urban trees can be even more challenging,” he said, drawing on his own experience as a former village forester for the village of Rothschild.

Beyond his tree board work, Jerow has participated in outreach and education events, provided media interviews about the benefits of the urban forest and organized Arbor Day celebrations. He also serves as president of the board of directors of Wisconsin’s Green Fire and volunteers at the Rhinelander Area Food Pantry, where he manages a large garden plot.
Tree board member Carly Lapin was quoted in the presentation: “Tom has been instrumental in bringing urban trees and forestry to the forefront in Rhinelander. His efforts as a volunteer city forester have brought in surreal funding in the form of gifts and grants to address the city’s declining urban trees and start planning to maintain this valuable resource within the city. Current and future generations will benefit from his work.”
In accepting the award, Jerow was quick to share the credit. “I insist I share this honor with every single person in this room — the tree board, the city staff, city council, two mayors, two city administrators,” he said, adding with a laugh that he would even extend the recognition to Town and Country Engineering, the firm that oversees city road construction projects. He reflected that after 40 years in natural resource management, 34 of them as a paid professional with the Department of Natural Resources, this achievement ranks among the most rewarding of his career. “I feel fortunate to serve my city and my community and to make Rhinelander a better place to live and play,” he said.