An advocate for improving the city's urban forest has been nominated by Mayor Mary Verner to serve on the Spokane Park Board.

Susan M. Ross Traver, a board member of Spokane Preservation Advocates, was selected from a dozen people considered for the job, said Marlene Feist, city spokeswoman.

The Park Board interviewed four of the applicants and selected two finalists, including Ross Traver, for Verner to consider, Park Board President Ross Kelley said.

Ross Traver is the secretary for a citizens advisory group that advises the Urban Forestry Committee, which is made up of Park Board members.

The Spokane Park Board has the final say on park spending and policy. The City Charter also gives the board authority over trees along roads and on other public property, but some park officials have complained that they don't have the money to do an adequate job maintaining street trees.

"I can bring a different voice concerning that issue," Ross Traver said in a phone interview. She added: "It's not the only thing I'm interested in."

Traver, 54, retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel. She moved to Spokane 2002. Her husband, K.C. Traver, is a member of Spokane County's Solid Waste Advisory Committee.

If the City Council agrees, Ross Traver will replace Larry Stanley, whose term expired earlier this year. She said the council likely will vote on her nomination on July 12.