Community Corner

Retired Waukesha Forester Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

David Liska instrumental in increasing number of city's street trees.

Editor's note: This news release came from the Waukesha Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department.

David Liska, a retired long-time forester for the City of Waukesha Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department was recently presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Urban Forestry Council.

The award was announced at the annual Urban Forestry Conference sponsored by the Wisconsin Arborist Association and Department of Natural Resources in Green Bay earlier this year. An award plaque was presented to Liska, who worked for the city from 1978 to 2008, during the meeting of the Park Foundation of Waukesha on Thursday.

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Liska is a current member of the foundation and was instrumental in its establishment. The Park Foundation of Waukesha serves as an advocate for the promotion of community quality of life through the enhancement of city parks, trails, recreation programs, urban forest and sponsors the Trailbreaker Marathon.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is given in “recognition of sustained leadership and outstanding contributions to urban forestry in Wisconsin demonstrated throughout a lifetime career” according to Kelli Tuttle, President of Bluestem Forestry Consulting and chair of the Wisconsin Urban Forestry Council.

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During Liska’s tenure in Waukesha, the street tree population grew from 6,000 to 24,000 trees and the community began the 30-year tradition of being recognized as a Tree City USA. As a leader in implementing new technology, Liska began working with the UW-Stevens Point in 1980 to introduce and develop the use of a computerized street tree inventory to better manage Waukesha’s urban forest resource.

During his career Liska was responsible for hiring and mentoring more than two dozen arborists with many of these professionals moving on to assume forestry leadership roles in communities throughout Wisconsin and the nation.

One of Liska's most satisfying projects was the propagation and replanting of the famed Dunbar Oak in Bethesda Park. The Dunbar Oak was associated with the beginning of the Springs Era in Waukesha. It is officially recognized as one of Wisconsin’s famous and historic trees. Destroyed by straight line winds in 1991, a genetic duplicate of the Dunbar Oak was dedicated and planted on its original site in 2004.

Liska also actively served as an industry leader through participation in numerous organizations and advisory councils, including serving twice as president of the Wisconsin Arborist Association, Wisconsin Urban Forestry Council, and appointee of the governor’s conference on forestry. Over the years, the City of Waukesha and Liska have received numerous awards and recognition for excellence in urban forestry.

Liska is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with degrees in natural resources and forestry and was named a forestry faculty associate at UW-Stevens Point in 2002.


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