Award winning USU student’s volunteer research may one day lead to healthier trees in Taylorsville parks
Sep 11, 2024 10:23AM ● By Carl Fauver
Taylorsville resident Merrill LeBaron was named Utah Citizen Forester of the Year for the research he’s completed, evaluating the health of trees at several local parks. (Photo courtesy Utah Department of Natural Resources)
You might think someone who raised six sons and spent more than three decades serving in the United States Army would be ready to relax a little – perhaps sip lemonade under an oversized shade tree.
But Taylorsville resident Merrill LeBaron would rather study that tree, examine it closely and help devise strategies for helping more trees to get that way – tall and healthy.
“When I retired from the military, I had to decide what I was going to do when I grow up,” LeBaron quips. “I have always enjoyed the outdoors, and when I first joined the Army, I did a lot of work with maps as I visited several countries in Europe. I developed an even deeper love of nature. So, now I am two years away from earning a horticulture degree with minors in landscape architecture and residential landscape design and construction.”
In other words, LeBaron’s lawn chair and lemonade glass are gathering dust.
LeBaron grew up in south central Utah, graduating from Richfield High in 1985. His military career ran from 1988 to 2019 and included two tours of Afghanistan. His family has called Taylorsville home since 2017.
“Our sons are ages 19 to 32 now, so they are pretty independent,” LeBaron said. “Two have already served in the Marine Corps and Navy. If another joins the Air Force, my family will have all the military branches covered.”
LeBaron is earning his horticulture degree through the Utah State University Salt Lake Valley campus, which is also located in Taylorsville, near 900 W. 4500 South. And it’s his work toward that degree that’s led him to a number of different Taylorsville parks to conduct voluntary tree research.
“I needed to complete a research project for my degree, so I decided to perform a tree inventory at several different Taylorsville parks,” he explained. “I plan to present my findings to the city council. Essentially, I want to talk with them about what types of trees are most likely to do well in our climate and what are the best ways to care for those trees to improve their chances.”
When LeBaron approached the city to discuss his plans and goals, he was referred to Taylorsville Community Outreach Coordinator Jay Ziolkowski.
“Merrill is very pleasant, engaging and excited about his research,” Ziolkowski said. “He wants to discuss his findings about the status of our park trees in a presentation to the city council. This is a win-win for everyone. It helps Merrill complete the work he needs to do for his degree, while also offering the city some ideas about caring for our trees. In the past, we have always been reactive: build a park, plant a tree, hope it survives. If it doesn’t, replace it. Hopefully Merrill’s research will allow us to be more proactive – to pick the best tree species to start with and then to care for them
more effectively.”
At press time, LeBaron’s presentation to the Taylorsville City Council had not yet
been scheduled.
Already the research LeBaron has completed has earned him an honor. He was recently named “Citizen Forester of the Year” by the Utah Community Forest Council. He was nominated for the award by Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands Urban & Community Forestry Program Manager Scott Zeidler.
“The award was a surprise, completely out of the blue,” LeBaron said. “I didn’t go into this project for an award. I am also not trying to sell my services to Taylorsville City. Eventually I want to get into paid consulting work with landscape architects. But for this project, I was interested in studying park trees around here because this is where my family recreates.”
LeBaron says he’s able to evaluate about 16 trees per hour and has already studied thousands of trees. It’s unclear how many of them, if any, he’s sipped lemonade under. λ