Forest Scene, Spring 2023 - Semester Highlight: Tree Ascension Group

June 30, 2023
Two students climb up a cottonwood tree on the UMN Twin Cities campus in St. Paul. In the background is Green Hall and a water tower with the UMN logo. The students who are climbing are roughly 20-25 feet in the air and heading upwards. Other students watch them from the ground while a grad student and climbing expert looks on, providing support.
Tree Ascension Group (TAG) members climb the cottonwood tree across the lawn from Green Hall while researcher and graduate student Nick Neylon (standing at left) provides them guidance and support.

The student-led Tree Ascension Group (TAG) helps students to practice safely – and confidently – climbing trees, including setting up gear and tying knots. After a forced hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the club relaunched this past semester thanks in large part to Derell Scott (class of 2022). Now TAG members can once again be spotted up in the canopies of trees across campus.

Theoren Keenan, TAG member, takes a selfie while climbing up the cottonwood tree. Theoren's face is closest to the camera and another student dangles by ropes in the background. Both are smiling and are wearing helmets and harnesses.
TAG President Theoren Keenan snaps a selfie with a fellow student climbing the cottonwood tree. 

During the spring semester, the club held practice sessions on trees such as the bur oak at the entrance of Green Hall. In April, members tackled their biggest climb together yet: the cottonwood tree across the lawn from Green Hall. The roughly 60-foot climb was truly “an awesome experience,” says TAG President and FNRM rising senior Theoren Keenan (pictured at right).
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two student members of the Tree Ascension Club tackle a roughly 60-foot climb up a cottonwood tree on the U of M Twin Cities campus in St. Paul. They are shown hanging in the air from ropes. Both are wearing helmets, harnesses, boots, pants, and T-shirts. The sky behind them is bright blue with few clouds and you can see tree canopies in the distant background. The following text, in bold white, overlays the image: "Forest Scene: Issue 29, Spring 2023. Department of Forest Resources."

The Forest Scene newsletter is published biannually in the spring and fall, featuring stories and updates from the Department of Forest Resources. Readers can download issue 29 of Forest Scene as an interactive PDF that is fully tagged and compatible with most screen readers, or read the individual stories here in a web-based format: