NR 3250 Urban Forestry Lectures 1.1 + 1.2

Forestry definition

The science and art of attaining desired forest conditions and benefits

• This condition is established through interaction with owners and stakeholders, who are goal-setters, to aid them in understanding the benefits and costs of any alternative goal and condition

First definition of Urban Forestry

By Jorgensen in 1965:

• “A specialized branch of forestry and has as its objective the cultivation and management of trees for their present and potential contributions to the physiological, socioligical, and economic well-being or urban society.”

Arboriculture definition

A specialized dicipline within horticulture that deals with the planting and care of individual trees and related landscaping vegetation.

Urban Forestry vs Arboriculture

• Urban Forestry addresses tree aggregates

• Arboriculture deals with individual trees

• Urban Forestry includes Arboriculture

Exurban definition

A region or settlement that lies outside a city and usually beyond its suburbs and that often is inhabited chiefly by well-to-do families

Tree canopy

• Urban forests make up a significant amount of America’s tree canopy

• Over 130 million acres of America’s forests are located in cities and towns

Make up of Urban Forests

• Urban parks

• Street Trees

• Green belts

• Gardens

• River and coastal promenades

• River corridors

• Wetlands

• Nature preserves

• Shelter belts

• Green roof

• Vertical forest

East Coast Greenway

Nationally connected, locally rooted trail for safe active transportation and recreation that transforms the way people move toward health, community and sustainability

• 3,000 miles

• 450 connected communities

Importance of Urban Forests

• In 2010, about 81% of Americans live in urban centers - census bureau

• Urban forests provide many benefits

  • Ecological, economic, aesthetic

Ancient History of Urban Forests

• “Hanging Gardens of Babylon”

  • One of the 7 wonders of the world

• Early Egyptians described transplanting trees with balls of soil in 2000 BC

• In 13AD, Kublia Khan required tree planting all public roads in and around Beijing for shade and to mark them in the snow

  • The regulation stated that trees be planted only two paces apart

  • Trees are still planted close together in Beijing

Recent History of Urban Forestry

• The “Romantic Landscape” began in Europe where public green spaces, suburban residential areas and parks sprawled outward for people to escape the deplorable urban conditions (“urban blight”) of the industrialized urban centers

• Napoleon transformed Paris in the 1850s and 60s using a radial street pattern of tree-lined boulevards and by building public parks, squares, monuments and gardens

• The Renaissance in Italy, France and Spain saw the growth of villas on the periphery of cities, containing walled gardens and tree-lined paths

• This pattern continued throughout Europe and became the pattern for revitalizing the old cities. However, most of these investments were made by the wealthy class, for the wealthy class

• Beginning in the 19th century, there began an interest in providing these well-established benefits to the “humbler” working classes

American Towns

Early colonial villages in New England were built around a village green for functionality and military purposes, not aesthetics

Modern Times

As time progressed, cities like Philadephia and Washington DC were designed with open spaces, filled with trees, in pursuit of the same romantic landscape that had not yet emerged in Europe

• However, insurance companies were reluctant at first to ensure homes with yard trees, stalling further efforts until the effects on industrialization began having the same effects here as in Europe

Central Park

New York’s Central Park set a pattern for many other cities

Romantic Landscape

In the spirit of the Romantic Landscape, suburbs for the emerging middle and upper classes sprang up on the outskirts of cities being blighted by industrialization

Smart Development

As the sprawl continued, lot size declined rapidly and limited space for tree planting

• This trend did not reverse itself until the late 1960s when home buyers started placing high premiums on wooded parcels

• Tree planting became of national interest at this time

Arbor Day

First observed in Nebraska in 1872 with J.S. Morton when over 1 million trees were planted

• This trend spread and has played a major role in defining the emerging profession of urban forestry

• Only recently has urban and community forestry begun to shed the image of a profession dedicated to just planting trees

• The spread of exotic diseases, like Dutch Elm Disease and the Chestnut Blight, expanded the role of Urban Forestry further

Following WWII (1921)

An early effort to expand urban forests

• American Forests launches memorial tree planting campaigns to plant trees in cities across America

• First Lady Florence Harding plants first memorial tree in Washington DC

First National Conference

• Trees and Forests in an Urbanizing Environment

• 1971

• University of Massachusetts

Urban Forestry Act 1974

A bill to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to cities and park districts to encourage the increased planting of trees and shrubs and to encourage other urban forestry programs

• Declares the growth of trees and shrubs helps to improve the quality of the urban environment by preventing erosion, providing shade, and reducing noise and air pollution levels

• Authorizes grants to cities to pay 100% of tree planting costs

  • Political

• Provides technical assistance to cities and parks to assist such cities in planning, developing, and administering forestry programs

California Urban Forestry Act 1978

Declares the value of urban forests

• Promotes expansion of UF

• Creates programs to support communities

What year was the First National Urban Forest Conference?

1982

Million Trees Campaign in Los Angeles

1984

• Started by TreePeople

• Desired to have public plan 1 million trees for the 1984 Olympics

• Led by people with no training in urban forestry

• When mature, these trees could filter up to 200 tons of particulate smog from the air every day

• The figure seemed solid and inspirational

• Many citizens became involved and a great deal of trees were planted

• The campaign caputured national attention

• The Million Tree Campaign in LA helped inspire many similar initiatives by citizen groups throughout the US

American Forests launches Community ReLeaf

2013

• Program dedicated to expanding tree canopy in cities across the US

Blue Ribbon panel names 10 best urban forests

2013

• Austin, Charlotte, Denver, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York, Portland, Sacramento, Seattle, Washington DC

August 2019

Mayor Garcetti, LA, names Rachel Malarich the first City Forest Officer

• New post created to oversee LA’s urban forests

• Goals

  • Plant 90,000 trees by 2021

  • Increase canopy size by 50% in areas with least shade

Ideas for the future

• Vertical forests

• Green roofs

• Wildlife crossings

  • Ex: Wallis Annenberg