USU Salt Lake Student and Army Vet Aids Taylorsville in Park Tree Audit, Wins Award

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — It all started with a few paragraphs in a textbook. Utah State University horticulture student Merrill LeBaron became intrigued by the idea of tree diversity metrics and inventory after reading about it in his arboriculture class.

Knowing he needed to complete an internship as part of his coursework, LeBaron had a sudden jolt of inspiration as he was walking his dog in a local park.

“I often walk my dog in the parks near my home,” LeBaron said. “I began thinking about how my city could benefit from having a tree inventory to better manage the urban forest in their parks.”

With this thought in mind, LeBaron went to his professor at USU Salt Lake, Rachel Broadbent, who worked with both him and Taylorsville City to create an internship opportunity. Broadbent, senior lecturer and Horticulture program coordinator, has enjoyed LeBaron’s fervor for the subject.

"From the first class Merrill enrolled in, he stood out for his enthusiasm and passion for learning” Broadbent said. “His self-motivation to go beyond class work and understand more are assets to our university, the PSC department, and the whole community."

Receiving permission from the city in the late fall, LeBaron quickly jumped into action to start the tree audit. Working in several of Taylorsville’s smaller parks, he is now able to identify up to 16 trees per hour. He makes notations of them on a tablet, creating a virtual map of every tree in the city’s parks. He hopes that by identifying the trees and which will need to be replaced in the near future, city managers can have the data needed to make the proper tree choices and adjustments in the future, prioritizing drought-resistant and low-maintenance trees that best fit the landscape and reduce costs.

“I’m working to compress the information into a short briefing for the city,” LeBaron said. “This data will show them several ways to use the information to make simple and effective changes in managing trees in their parks.”

Jay Ziolkowski, outreach coordinator for Taylorsville, was immediately interested in LeBaron’s concept when it was brought to him. He hopes that the city can use the information to better manage trees going forward.

“Merrill intrigued us with not only the concept and his desires – but what the information gathered could do for our tree management into the future in terms of care, treatment, life expectancy, and so on,” Ziolkowski said.

Although his project halted during the winter months, LeBaron was already able to document more than 1,000 trees in the city prior to this. Through this work, he won the Citizen Forester of the Year award from the Utah Community Forest Council. This award was presented on January 23, 2024.

“This award recognizes my contributions to Taylorsville City and the Utah Urban and Community Forestry Program,” LeBaron said. “Because of my work, I hope future projects from USU horticulture students will be considered to benefit local Utah communities.”

LeBaron has since continued the work and has documented thousands of more trees. He will finish his internship in the summer and present his findings to the city council. He hopes the city will allow him to continue to volunteer his time to complete the documentation of the city’s 17 parks, and that they will use the data he has gathered in positive ways.

“I hope they will use these ideas to help turn these smaller parks into examples of the best urban forest practices for municipalities to model for drought-tolerant, long-living, low maintenance, and low-cost urban forest greenspaces for future populations to enjoy,” he said.

Prior to being a student at USU, LeBaron served in the United States Army for 30 years before retirement. During his service, he rose to the rank of master sergeant and chief warrant officer, working in several fields including terrain analyst, prevention medicine specialist, field artillery senior sergeant, paralegal specialist, and human resource specialist. He served two combat tours in the Middle East.

Having a love for woody plants and landscapes, he enrolled at USU Salt Lake in the horticulture program, and is scheduled to graduate in Spring 2027. He is grateful to have the statewide campus so close to his home and to be able to follow his passion at USU.

“I’m grateful that USU Salt Lake has programs and courses in areas I’m interested in,” he said. “It is wonderful that I can live locally and take these courses and earn a degree in something I am passionate about. I have received a lot of help from the faculty and instructors to help me succeed and enrich my college experience.”

With locations in Salt Lake City, Orem, Park City and Heber, Utah State University’s Wasatch Region offers students the personalized attention and small class sizes of a small-town college with the resources of a large university. With degree options ranging from associate to doctorate degrees, plus technical education offerings, USU offers programs that help fuel local economies and empower individuals and their communities. Learn more at statewide.usu.edu.