Our Mission
Founded in 2011, the Urban Tree Alliance is a non-profit organization serving the greater Madison, WI area. Our mission is to preserve and grow the urban forest canopy in a sustainable and innovative manner in partnership with the public.
The Urban Tree Alliance is committed to providing Madison-area residents with the knowledge, skills and resources they need to grow and maintain a healthy, resilient urban forest. We support homeowners in caring for trees on their property, and we empower groups to tackle community forestry projects.
Our Partners
All UTA projects involve partners, often several at a time. We are always looking for new groups and properties to work with. If you have an idea for a project, let us know. Past and current partners include:
Our Staff & Board
Evan Slocum
PRESIDENT
Evan is a founder and President of the Urban Tree Alliance. He is also ISA-Certified Master Arborist and operates Urban Tree Management, a private arboricultural service.
After a long day spent pruning every twig of deadwood from a small black gum on a sprawling estate and then bicycling home past standing dead elms over playgrounds in less affluent parts of the city, Evan first conjured ideas of finding a way to provide tree care to those who can’t typically afford it. Those thoughts were the beginnings of the Urban Tree Alliance.
Jeremy Kane
DIRECTOR
Jeremy is the Director of the Urban Tree Alliance. He is also an ISA Certified production arborist with Urban Tree Management and Program Director of Madison College’s Dept of Arboriculture, where teaches courses in dendrology and urban ecology. From 2018-2020, he was the chairperson of the City of Madison Urban Forestry Task Force. Please contact Jeremy with any questions or thoughts about the Urban Tree Alliance.
Beca Borkowski
COMMUNITY FOREST COORDINATOR
Beca Borkowski is the Community Forest Coordinator for the Urban Tree Alliance. Beca assists in leading the Neighborhood Forest Project by building connections throughout the South Madison community, managing UTA’s promotion of the project through media and local events, assisting with tree plantings, and leading K-12 urban forestry education events at local schools. She brings extensive experience in environmental education and environmental equity from her work with the Wisconsin DNR, U.S. Forest Service, and the Groundwork USA network. Beca also serves as Executive Director of the Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education and holds an M.S. in Environmental Conservation and a B.A. in Global Security, focused on natural resource security. Contact Beca at bborkowski.uta@gmail.com to learn more about the Neighborhood Forest Project.
Board Members
Alexis Bourgeois
Mike Fisher
Mary Pelzer
Jo Reis
Patricia (Lundquist) Chakravorty