Urban Forestry
The urban forest encompasses all trees and other natural resources within populated areas and includes privately and publicly owned trees and forested parcels and open space in and around areas of intensive human influence. Urban forests can be found in places ranging from small rural communities to dense urban areas. The best measure of urban forest cover is attained by mapping urban tree canopy. Urban tree canopy is defined as the layer of branches and leaves that cover the ground when viewed from above. Measuring tree canopy is important because it is the tree canopy that provides much-valued environmental services such as pollution removal, cooling, and rainfall interception. It is important that landowners and residents take steps to protect and enhance their urban forests.

The USDA Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry program http://www.na.fs.fed.us/urban/index.shtm provides technical, financial, educational, and research services to states, cities, and nonprofit groups so they can plant, protect, maintain, and utilize wood from community trees and forests to maximize environmental, social and economic benefits. http://www.na.fs.fed.us/urban/index.shtm

Municipalities should consider using Best Management Practices for the planning and management of this valuable natural resources. BMPs are voluntary guidelines that do not supersede existing local, state, or federal laws. They are designed to provide planners, developers, builders, utilities, and contractors with a framework of action to be taken before, during, and after development to increase the protection and conservation of trees and wooded areas during the development process.

Unlike forest systems, most urban forests are not capable of reproducing naturally, and the multitude of benefits they provide is forever unrealized or minimized if they are left to fend on their own. In urban environments and especially utility right of ways - soil compaction, salt, physical damage, pollution, lack of water, and an array of insects and diseases contribute to reduced lifespan of trees. The average life expectancy of newly planted urban trees has been reported to be 10 to 15 years (Urban 1999). Poorly managed urban street trees may have an even lower life expectancy of 7 to 10 years (Appleton 2002), and, in many cases, if the same trees were planted in similar environments and managed properly, would have a life expectancy of 60 - 200 years.

Well maintained healthy trees in communities provide more than ecological services. On an economic level, urban forest contributions are many. Healthy, mature trees in neighborhoods create a sense of stability while young healthy trees tend to emanate a sense of renewal. In residential neighborhoods, properly maintained trees contribute significantly to real estate values which positively impact property and other taxes. With proper planning and management, trees, their canopy cover and associated plant and animal communities, contribute many benefits and much value far in excess of the time and money invested for planting and maintenance. The collective benefits communities receive from urban forests can only be derived from careful planning, protection, and management of this valuable resource using both regulatory (zoning) and non-regulatory (planning and public education) tools.

A number of tools and strategies should be used to plan for and manage public tress.

It is important to enact a street tree ordinance and to establish a legally constituted tree commission to act in an advisory role for local government.

The resources of the urban forest should be considered in municipal comprehensive plans, tree preservation and other zoning ordinances, landscape ordinances, and planning commission review for all new development.

Street tree Ordinances provide legal authority for the municipality and tree commission to carry out urban forestry management efforts on mostly public property. Tree ordinances usually have a permitting section which controls the removal, planting, or pruning of any public street or park tree. These ordinances can also be enacted to require arboricultural and other technical standards. And regulate the removal of trees on private property if they are diseased or threaten the safety of the public right-of-way. These laws were developed to protect street trees by ensuring their proper care and protection and to ensure their compatibility with an efficient and dependable public utility systems.

Utility Policy

All communities should have laws that prohibit any person from performing tree removal, pruning, or other tree maintenance within 10 feet of any energized line without the proper training, supervision, certification, and equipment as outlined in OSHA 29CFR 1910.269 or any applicable American National Standards policies.

All utility pruning is done under the supervision of a International Society of Arboriculture certified Arborist using directional pruning and reduction and thinning cuts as outlined in American National Standards A300-Tree Care Operations: Tree, Shrub, and Other Woody Plant Maintenance Standard Practices.