Urban Forestry

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Urban Forestry

What Is It?
Why Is It Important?
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Acknowledgments

• Arkansas Urban Forestry Council
• USDA Forest Service
• Tod Ericson, Maryland DNR Forest Service
• Marion Bedingfield, Baltimore City Forestry
  Division
• National Arbor Day Foundation
• International Society of Arboriculture
• Chris Stuhlinger
• Les Werner
• Rich Hauer

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What is the Urban Forest?

• All trees and shrubs in populated areas
• Wildlife, soil, water
• Urban area - population at least 2500
• 80 of Americans live in an urban area
• 70 million acres worth nearly 30 billion
• Account for 25 of total tree canopy cover in
  U.S.
• Even a small community has an urban forest

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Benefits of Urban Forests

• Trees make communities more livable, improve the
  quality of life
• Trees make people feel better
• Aesthetics
• Recreational areas
• Reduce crime
• (Have definite social values)

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Benefits of Urban Forests

• Wildlife habitat
• (have wildlife values and implications)

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Benefits of Urban Forests

• Take in CO2, store carbon, release O2
• Trap pollutants gases, dust, ash, smoke
• Cooling effect, heat islands
• Reduces air conditioning needs up to 30

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Benefits of Urban Forests

• Visual screens
• Noise barriers
• Wind barrier with evergreens save 10-50 on
  heating
• Deciduous trees shade in summer, let warm
  sunlight through in winter
• Reduce soil erosion, reduce runoff

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Benefits of Urban Forests

• Increase property values by up
• to 15 or 20
• (have economic value)
• Trees attract businesses, customers, and tourists
• Benefits provided by urban trees can outweigh
  costs by almost 8 to 1
• Secondary products mulch, benches, tables,
  specialty hobby wood
• Some of these benefits also provided by rural
  forests

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What is Urban Forestry?

• Newer branch of forestry
• The conservation of trees along streets, in open
  spaces, in parks, and in neighborhoods
• Extend life of urban trees

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Urban and Community Forestry (UCF)

• Last 10-15 years, more standards, research, tree
  care techniques, certification
• Trees are major capital assets
• Trees require care
• UCF proper management of trees on public
  property
• Requires involvement by public
• UCF is important component of managing nations
  forest ecosystems

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Traditional vs. Urban Forestry

• Urban old in practice, new in theory
• Training
• Many trees vs. single trees
• Urban trees provide different challenges
• Manage people, communities
• Tree valuation
• Extend tree life
• Tree care
• Plant larger trees, not seedlings
• Similar techniques used in measuring, evaluating,
  and managing trees

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Individual Tree Valuation

• Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers Method
• Four Components Basic Value
  Species Condition Location
• Basic Value the most complicated component
  

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Why Know Urban Forestry?

• Lack of awareness of UF by public
• Attitudes getting more negative towards forestry
• Most voters live in urban areas
• Wildland-urban interface becoming more important
• Land fragmentation, regulations, neighbors
  concerns
• Urban forests - medium to educate and engage the
  public in natural resource issues

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Challenges

• Tree life averages less than 10 years
  downtown
• Limited space
• Poor soil
• Water problems
• Compaction
• Construction

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Challenges

• Mechanical injury
• Poor planting
• Topping

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Challenges

• Decay
• Pollutants
• Nutrient problems
• Insects and diseases
• Salt

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Challenges

• Surface rooting
• Problem species
• Poor management costs taxpayers
• We can control most of these challenges

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Street Tree Inventories

• On the ground
• Tree locations
• Condition of resource, species and size
  distributions
• Identify planting needs
• Hazard trees, tree care needed
• Infrastructure
• Computerized records
• Budget planning

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Aerial Inventories

• IKONOS/GIS
• GIS/GPS used for inventories, canopy cover,
  planting areas
• GPS to locate trees, signs, hydrants, other
  infrastructure

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Planting

• Tree selection
• Recommended tree lists
• Nurserymans standards ANSI Z60.1

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Planting

• - Planting a tree is not just digging a hole!
• - Whats above?
• - Whats below?
• - Whats around?
• - Species selection
• - Growing space crown and roots!
• - Support

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Selection and Establishment
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Maintenance

• Mulching
• Pruning utility, deadwood
• ANSI standards Z133.1 - Tree Care Operations
• ANSI A300 Pruning
• Tree removal and disposal
• Have to budget for maintenance, usually more
  available for planting

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Hazard Trees

• Defect that causes the tree or part of a tree to
  fall or fail
• Target something of value structure, street,
  person
• Both components necessary for a tree to be a
  hazard tree !

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Hazard Trees

• Defect may or may not be visible
• Use probes, engineering formulas

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Recognition

• Champion Tree Program
• Notable Trees largest size/age, unusual,
  historical
• Tree City USA

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Community Involvement

• Successful programs based on public awareness and
  support
• Volunteers
• Forestry boards
• Urban forestry council

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Community Involvement

• Community tree planting projects
• Schools
• Service organizations

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Nutrition and Fertilization
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Mulch

• One of most cost-effective practices
• Mulch 2-4 inches deep
• No volcano mulching

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Pruning
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Insects and Disease

• How to diagnose and identify
• How to treat

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Urban Forestry

• Education and Employment
• - UWSP has largest Urban Forestry program in the
  world. One of five areas of emphasis in
  Forestry.
• - Highest rate of employment of Forestry majors.