To manage public trees you need to know what you have, where it is, and what condition it is in. The most effective way to answer those questions is with an on-the-ground tree inventory. This holds true at any scale; from a single city park to an entire state. Our latest blog looks at how statewide tree inventories are developed and leveraged through three examples: New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Oregon
Milan's Vertical Forest buildings have long been a poster child of green building achievement. At their 10 year anniversary, the project's architect Stefano Boeri, reflects on the building's impact and new urban forestry ideas to help mitigate the challenge of climate change.
Volunteers are a vital supplement to local governments' ability to support urban forests. Marcus Ferreira learned how to care for trees through the Penn State Extension Master Watershed Steward volunteer program, and has since recruited a dozen other volunteers to cultivate healthy street trees.
UPCOMING WEBINAR: New Data for Equitable Urban Forest Planning
July 24, 2024 | Noon MST
Join us on July 24th to explore a new data offering in TreePlotter, the Land Cover and Tree Equity (LCTE) Data Pack. Communities, especially IRA grant winners and future applicants, must carefully plan and track how their projects benefit disadvantaged areas. We created the LCTE Data Pack, an add-on to TreePlotter, to support this process.
PlanIT Geo’s Ian Truslove and Ian Hanou will demonstrate the components of the LCTE Data Pack, including layers for disadvantaged communities and redlining areas encoded with land cover data. See how the LCTE Data Pack can amplify and simplify equitable urban forest planning in your community.
5 Opportunities for Micro-Greening in Low-Income Urban Settlements
Small-scale greening of spaces like private balconies, courtyards, rooftops, and intersections are not only cost and resource efficient but also complement existing infrastructure. In places like Mumbai’s dense M/East ward, which lacks large open spaces, residents employ a range of strategies to green their everyday spaces.
Green Infrastructure Plans Need to Consider Historical Racial Inequalities
“For the environmental and ecological questions, we have a pretty good handle on what we need to do. The questions that are the hardest and the most important for people to tackle are how to work well with communities, particularly marginalized communities.” Researchers make recommendations for a justice-oriented approach to green infrastructure projects in a recent paper.
UPCOMING WEBINAR: Tree Inventory Services You Never Knew You Needed
July 31, 2024 | Noon MST
The most effective way to know where your public trees are and what condition they are in is with a tree inventory, but not all tree inventories are created equal. Tune in July 31st for a deep dive into public tree inventories and the variety of attributes and services they can include. Rocky Yosek, PlanIT Geo Field Services Operations Manager, will discuss how communities can plan for an inventory that best meets their needs and goals. Topics will include optimal inventory timing, planting site analysis, Level 2 Risk Assessments, and more.
Promoting Environmental Justice in Urban Tree Plans
“We’re basically trying to grow a goldfish inside a shot glass.” Montpelier, Vermont has seen how difficult it is for new trees to thrive on compact city sidewalks. To boost longevity, the city adopted a method developed in Sweden to use small stones to create "structural soil" that can support compression from above, while still providing space for roots to seek nutrients and air.
Kirkland, Washington Tree Inventory Summary Report
To manage public trees you need to know what you have, where it is, and what condition it is in. Our Field Services team helped Kirkland, Washington answer those questions by inventorying over 50,000 public trees. See what they learned about Kirkland's urban forest in the Tree Inventory Summary Report.
