Free ISA CEUs: Week of June 8, 2026

After moving to Utah as a teenager, desert landscapes and their Pinyon-Juniper forests struck me as otherworldly. I was used to being in the deciduous forests of the Southeastern US and Central Europe.

As an adult, I found out that Juniper was particularly meaningful in my family. Pinyon had her place of honor as well, but wasn’t quite to Juniper’s celebrity status.

So when I was hiking in Ratón two weeks ago, it was especially poignant to meet multiple grandmother Juniper; I’ve only seen old-growth Juniper in a handful of places outside of national parks, usually in places that were remote and very difficult to get to, even with 4WD.

This time, I didn’t have my DBH tape on me, but I had to step back about 10 feet to get only a portion of the tree in the above photo, and this was the “smallest” Juniper. Note her trunk and the texture; it wasn’t an even circle. It’s innumerable layers of irregularly laid xylem. I’d hazard a guess that these particular individuals may be old enough to be categorized as “veteran”, or even “ancient” trees.

If you take a look at this map, you’ll probably notice that old growth forests are a bit rare.

Why do old growth forests matter? There are many reasons, but I like to highlight that trees become more efficient as they get older and are biodiversity hotspots.

The Old Growth Forest Network has a cool mapping resource to find old growth forests near you.

There are many types of “old growth” ecosystems and my one of my favorites are “old growth” sagebrush and grass “forests”.

Here’s a link to a well-loved resource to learn how to identify all the different species of sagebrush in the western US.

Unfortunately, there are no federal laws protecting trees (or other living and non-living beings) unless they’re in a designated area of land that has special protections, are an endangered species, or a host to an endangered species. It’s difficult to get plants on the federal endangered species lists.

Folks may think that if their community has Tree City USA status, the trees are automatically protected. Unless the community develops and passes tree-protection ordinances, trees are not protected “by default”. The initial requirements to qualify are broad enough that most communities focus on maintenance, rather than protection; however, Growth Awards do help in that regard.

While federal protections can be difficult to obtain, local, municipal, county and state ordinances can be an easier lift for a dedicated set of volunteers.

If you’re interested in supporting the health of trees, a free class is available through Tree Board University to get trained as a tree board member.

If you’re in New Mexico or are seeking guidance to develop an urban forestry plan for your community, the Southwest New Mexico Community Forestry Project has developed multiple urban forestry plans that are available to the public (scroll down about halfway).

There’s also an opportunity to become a Tree Steward through Tree New Mexico’s statewide program:

There are no live webinar CEU opportunities this week.

On-Demand CEUs

Arbsession Training Videos

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Forestry Webinars

The Webinar Portal, a product of Southern Regional Extension Forestry (SREF) and winner of the 2011 USDA Forest Service’s Two Chiefs’ Partnership Award, is a “multi discipline” web platform used to promote and deliver live and on-demand virtual events and webinars focused on forestry, agriculture, conservation, climate science and other natural resource disciplines.

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TreeStuff Webinars on YouTube

Watch a video and pass the quiz to qualify for free ISA CEUs.

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Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA)

Introduction to Arboriculture Safety (1.25 ISA CEUs)

In this program, you will learn about general tree care safety so that you can avoid accidents while working in the field.

Susan Harwood Grant program OSHA Trainings (Up to 5 ISA CEUs)

Free TCIA Member Webinars

Remember, you can always ask your local ISA chapter if your event qualifies for CEUs.

If your organization is hosting a free in-person or virtual ISA CEU opportunity, please reach out to so we can share it!

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