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Urban forest will miss Englert

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Janesville Parks Supervisor Cliff Englert leans against a tree he planted in the park above the Rock County Courthouse when he first became parks supervisor 20 years ago. He is retiring soon. Englert is also very active in the shade tree committee.

JANESVILLE — Janesville is losing its unofficial forester.

Cliff Englert, city parks supervisor for 20 years and a founding member of the Janesville Shade Tree Advisory Committee, is pulling up roots and heading south.

The city forester position doesn’t exist on paper. But all the departments depended on Englert when it came to trees and landscaping, said Tom Presny, parks director, who has worked with Englert for 25 years.

“His knowledge of forestry and landscape skills have made our parks in our community a much better place to live in and enjoy,” Presny said.

Englert is passionate about those areas, and that will be missed, Presny said.

Englert’s tree knowledge amazes other tree people.

“He knows where individual trees of different specimens are,” said Mary Ann Buenzow, forester with the Department of Natural Resources and a fellow member of the shade tree committee. “We need to download his brain onto some huge computer,” she said.

The city is losing not only his knowledge but also his caring, Buenzow added.

Chris Ranum, owner of LP Tree Service and another member of the shade tree committee, said Englert’s knowledge of trees and their diseases and pests is encyclopedic.

Englert, 54, was born in Chicago. His interest in forestry sparked as a Boy Scout, when during summer camp he explored the sand dunes and woods of central Michigan.

By age 15, he was grafting the fruit trees in his back yard.

Englert graduated with a degree in forestry from Southern Illinois University and a master’s degree in public administration from UW-Oshkosh.

Working for the city, Englert oversaw the workforce and coordinated activities with public groups. He kept an eye on harmful tree insects and diseases. He surveyed the city’s trees. He was instrumental in creating highly visible plantings around the city, including at the library and the Lower Courthouse Park.

In the City of Parks, he’s reluctant to pick his favorite.

“Each one is so different,” he said. “It’s like having dozens of children and having to say one of them is your favorite.”

Still, Englert is compelled to mention the cathedral-like feel created by a stand of maples that in fall turns an intense yellow in Rockport Park. He’s partial to the century-old oak trees that cool Lustig Park.

Englert was a co-founder of the shade tree committee, which was born out of concern after Alliant Energy radically pruned trees to keep them away from power lines. Residents called the city in concern.

Englert worked with Alliant to modify its pruning methods, Ranum said.

The committee of about a dozen residents formed from that incident. Its mission is to educate people about the urban forest—its cooling and purifying benefits—and give advice on planting the right trees in the right places.

“Many people can’t see the urban forest as an entity,” Englert said. “They see a street tree, but they don’t consider the urban forest as a unit. One of our educational goals is to get people to understand that we have a living, breathing entity on our hands that is under stress all the time and needs help to flourish.”

The shade tree group has planted hundreds of trees and cares for those that are ailing. It installed lightning protection on an ancient oak at the Tallman House, for instance.

Englert was instrumental in planning the committee’s “right tree in the right place” demonstration project on Kellogg Avenue funded by a grant from the Alliant Foundation. He gathered the documentation needed to apply to the National Arbor Day Foundation for recognition as a Tree City USA, an award achieved in 2004 and every year since.

The group in cooperation with Boy Scouts planted hundreds of bur oak seedlings in Paw Print Park. Someday, the park will support an excellent oak savannah and be a more pleasant place for humans and dogs, Englert said.

“I can’t wait to bring my dog in four years to Paw Print Park and see how much the trees have grown there,” he said.

Buenzow said Englert is the organized member of the shade tree group, the person who makes sure trees are delivered to the right places and at the right times for planting projects, for example.

“Some of us just show up with a shovel, and it magically happens,” she said. “He’s the guy who makes it all happen.

“It’s going to take a lot of us to fill his shoes.”

Englert is moving to Clearwater, Fla., with his wife, Bea. He plans to get his fishing captain’s license and return to school to become an attorney specializing in environmental protection.

“There are always new forestry horizons to conquer,” Englert said, noting the native pine scrubland in central Florida. “That’s just a shift in focus.

“The thing I’m going to miss the most is all the people I’ve worked with, all of my friends I’m leaving behind.”

Said Buenzow of Englert: “People don’t even realize his impact. You could drive around town and be pointing non-stop to things Cliff helped make better.”