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The Forest Stewardship program is a series of four classes, with an optional 5th class focused on leadership training. The training is designed to introduce community stewards to practical concepts for identifying native vs. invasive species, understanding the environmental impact of invasive plants, and learning effective removal and management methods.

Volunteers who complete the training and contribute service hours as project leaders can become Certified Volunteer Forest Stewards. Our next training course begins on October 4.

Meet Tony Fiore, Forest Steward

As we welcome a new class of Forest Stewards, we’re highlighting one of our passionate volunteers, Tony Fiore, who has dedicated his time and energy to restoring Atlanta’s greenspaces.

“…Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, ‘Stay awhile.’
The light flows from their branches.”
                                                      – Mary Oliver

Tony’s Forest Steward Experience

I have lived in Atlanta since 1995, and occasionally joined Trees Atlanta volunteer projects over the years, but it wasn’t until the last two years that I had more free time and wanted to focus more on volunteer work in the natural world. I wanted to find a way to both give back and take comfort in these natural spaces. Forest restoration work with Trees Atlanta is among the most fulfilling volunteer opportunities in Atlanta, and after taking their training course, you get the cool title of “Forest Steward.”

New volunteers sometimes worry about identifying invasive plants, but you don’t need to worry. There are always staff or experienced volunteers to help, and even apps that can ID plants accurately from a photo. Trees Atlanta staff are amazingly knowledgeable, and everyone, especially retired fold like me, can develop a level of expertise in a topic. It’s invigorating to start at the elementary level again and slowly build up you knowledge to the point that you’re able to lead projects. Trees Atlanta provides the tools; volunteers just need gloves, a water bottle, and a willingness to help accrue sweat equity.

If you want to go further in the work, you can do as I and many other have done, and become a Forest Steward. This means taking the Forest Stewardship training course. This appealed to me because of its focus on rejuvenating natural spaces that have been overtaken by plant invaders. All very mystical, but the practical work needed — removal of non-native species and replanting of native species that better support insect, bird, and other animal life cycles — is spiritually cleansing, and if performed with enthusiasm, requires a shower afterwards (i.e. physical cleansing).

The amount of practical knowledge provided in the Forest Stewardship course was amazing. I learned so much and discovered that my yard and neighborhood was the home of many non-native and invasive species. The removal of invasive plants is one facet, but more interesting to me is replanting the space with native species that can thrive in the variety of habitats present in Trees Atlanta-monitored greenspaces. The physical aspect of pulling or cutting down invasive species, digging holes to plant, and hauling water to the new plants is a challenge, but not beyond people’s capacity. Trees Atlanta staff is very attuned to helping each volunteer figure out how they can help the most.

Once you complete the Forest Stewardship course and the leadership training, you can become certified as a Trees Atlanta Forest Steward. I am a co-lead volunteer Forest Steward for Legacy Park, and we lead groups twice a month to restore this amazing Decatur greenspace to a more native plant landscape.

Trees are the scaffolding of the natural world and have a timeless quality that helps me refocus my energies on combating climate change, supporting our planet’s non-human life forms, and enjoying our natural world. I get a warm satisfaction in freeing up space and light for an oak or beech sapling and projecting decades ahead when it will be a forest giant that future generations can enjoy.

“More and more I have come to admire resilience.
Not the simple resistance of a pillow, whose foam
returns over and over to the same shape, but the sinuous
tenacity of a tree: finding the light newly blocked on one side,
it turns in another. A blind intelligence, true.
But out of such persistence arose turtles, rivers,
mitochondria, figs — all this resinous, unretractable earth.” 
                                                                              — Jane Hirshfield

Want to learn to identify native and invasive species and restore Atlanta’s forests? Join us for our 2025 Forest Stewardship Training beginning on October 4.

About The Author: Tony Fiore

Tony Fiore has been an Atlanta area resident and outdoors enthusiast since 1995. He is an infectious disease specialist physician who worked at the CDC until 2022. He lives with his wife Rachel and their two cats in Decatur and keeps busy by volunteering.

“Tony has been willing to go above and beyond for Trees Atlanta’s mission from day one. He is very knowledgeable about the history of his site, Legacy Park, and shares that with his volunteers. As soon as the 2024 Forest Stewardship Training Program completed, he let me know he would like to stay heavily involved — and he has. I know I can always depend on him, and I am thrilled he is a part of my team.” 
                                                                                                                                                 — Sav Tello, Forest Restoration Coordinator

Posted on: August 25, 2025