The Oakdale Tree Board elected Nick Cantola as chair and March Sager as vice chair during their January 21 meeting while finalizing plans for 2025 tree management activities.

The board confirmed Bethkey Park as the location for their spring tree planting event, where 20-30 trees will be planted using specimens currently housed at the city's Public Works facility. City forestry staff Tim reported that holes will be pre-dug and mulch provided for the volunteer planting event, which will include outreach to North High School students and the general public.

Board members also decided to complete buckthorn removal at Walton Park during their October 2025 volunteer event rather than starting a new location. Tim noted that city staff had already conducted follow-up chemical treatment of stumps after the previous removal event and that finishing the current area would be more efficient than moving to a new site.

The annual tree giveaway will be held at the North Fire Station as a drive-through event, with Master Gardener booths set up in the parking lot. Tim said city staff will direct traffic and that the board discussed adding email collection to the signup process to send reminder notifications to participants, addressing concerns about no-shows from previous events.

Tim provided updates on ongoing city forestry work, including clearance pruning for snow plow routes, ash tree removal on city property, and restoration work at Bethkey Park in preparation for spring planting. The board also heard that tree track maps for the Discovery Center Nature Reserve have been completed and will be submitted for publication.