Community involvement is critical for the continued vitality of the urban forest. To encourage this involvement, an understanding is needed of what promotes shared stewardship as well as of different cultural perspectives regarding trees. A survey of the general public in 109 large metropolitan areas across the continental U.S., a culturally and ethnically diverse group, was conducted. Two thousand adults were surveyed to assess the extent of their childhood experiences with nature, their current attitudes toward urban forests, and their demographic backgrounds. Respondents were questioned particularly about their earliest experiences with nature and their current understanding and appreciation of the urban forest. Other researchers have examined the relationship between childhood contact with nature and attitudes toward nature among professionals in environmental fields, but this relationship has not been explored in the general public. Correlations between survey respondents' memories of childhood contact with nature, their current perceptions of the urban forest, and the influence of their cultural and ethnic backgrounds will be presented. For example, respondents who reported very easy access to nature as children were likely to agree strongly that trees should be planted in business districts to reduce smog. Results from this survey may be applied in programs to teach children about trees and gardening, thus better tailoring these programs to engender future appreciation for the urban forest. Raw data from this survey will be made available to other researchers.
therefore fruitless, a useful attribute for urban forest selections ( Thompson and Grauke, 1991 ). Although desirable for a variety of applications, some species belonging to the genus Carya are restricted by nursery production bottlenecks. Their
Abstract
Since 1905, the United State Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service has been manager of the nation’s forests and wilderness resources — 187 million acres (75.7 million ha) in national forests and grasslands. Except where excluded by law, these lands are managed for multiple products like recreation, wildlife, range, timber, and water. The Forest Service also cooperates with state forestry organizations to organize technical and financial assistance programs that improve forest management on 1.4 billion acres (0.57 billion ha) of private and non-Federal public forest and rangelands throughout the country.
, p. 281–323. In: C.C. Konijnendijk, N. Kjell, T.B. Randrup, and J. Schipperijn (eds.). Urban forests and trees. Springer-Verlag, Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany Smith, D.H. Malone, D.C. Lawson, K.A. Okamoto, L.J. Battista, C. Saunders, W.B. 1997 A national
Project compared how cool roofs and urban forests affected temperatures in the city and found the greatest benefits of lowering temperature in neighborhoods with mesic landscaping and 25% tree canopy cover compared with bare neighborhoods without tree
1 Soil physicist. 2 Urban forest researcher. 3 Professor. The cost of publishing this paper was defrayed in part by the payment of page charges, Under postal regulations, this paper therefore must be hereby marked advertise ment solely to indicate
Urban sprawl of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area is rapidly replacing agricultural and non-irrigated desert vegetation with an irrigated urban forest comprised of a mixture of woody ornamental plant materials. Our objective was to estimate and compare the carbon acquisition potential (CAP) of residential landscape plants to the dominate plant species found in adjacent agricultural and desert sites. Maximum shoot and leaf gas exchange measurements were made at monthly intervals for one year (Aug. 1998 to July 1999) using a portable photo-synthesis system. Concurrent diel gas exchange measurements were made seasonally. Gas exchange measurements were made on alfalfa at agricultural sites, blue palo verde, creosote bush and bur sage at desert sites, and on a mixture of 19 different woody ornamental tree, shrub and ground cover species at residential sites. A trapezoidal integration model was used to estimate daily CAP at each site based on maximum assimilation flux values and seasonally adjusted diel assimilation patterns. Annual landscape CAP was then calculated as the summation of estimates of daily CAP. Calculated annual CAP was highest at agricultural sites (159.0 mol/m2 per year), lowest at desert sites (35.3 mol/m2 per year), and intermediate at residential landscape sites (99.3 mol/m2 per year).
The United States environmental horticulture industry, also known as the Green Industry, is comprised of wholesale nursery and sod growers; landscape architects, designers/builders, contractors, and maintenance firms; retail garden centers, home centers, and mass merchandisers with lawn and garden departments; and marketing intermediaries such as brokers and horticultural distribution centers (re-wholesalers). Environmental horticulture is one of the fastest growing segments of the nation's agricultural economy. In spite of the magnitude and recent growth in the Green Industry, there is surprisingly little information regarding its economic impact. Thus, the objective of this study was to estimate the economic impacts of the Green Industry at the national level. Economic impacts for the U.S. Green Industry in 2002 were estimated at $147.8 billion in output, 1,964,339 jobs, $95.1 billion in value added, $64.3 billion in labor income, and $6.9 billion in indirect business taxes, with these values expressed in 2004 dollars. In addition, this study evaluated the value and role of urban forest trees (woody ornamental trees); the total output of tree production and care services was valued at $14.55 billion, which translated into $21.02 billion in total output impacts, 259,224 jobs, and $14.12 billion in value added.
In a unique partnership. the University of Kentucky Dept. of Horticulture, the Cooperative Extension Service, and the Kentucky State Division of Forestry are teaming up to produce two training packages for “train-the-trainer” workshops throughout the state. The workshops will be open to people interested in urban/community trees and arboriculture.
The first training session will be held in 1993 and will cover five modules: 1) Designing the planting site to compensate for a disturbed environment; 2) Species selection for the existing site; 3) Scientific planting techniques; 4) Post-planting care: and 5) Integrated pest management.
The second training session will be held in 1994 and will cover the following topics: 1) Establishing a scientific management program for the urban forest; 2) Preparation and administration of grants: 3) Fund-raising and efficient use of volunteers; 4) Developing an urban tree inventory; 5) Recognition of hazard trees; and 6) Selecting quality nursery stock.
The training packages will consist of a written manual, videos, and slide sets. Training sessions are open to foresters, county agents, city planners, developers, and others in Kentucky who are interested in returning to their communities and training others on the topics covered.
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew destroyed over 1000 mature trees in the City of North Miami, located 50 mi north of the storm center. The cleanup cost over $1,000.000. Most of the tree failures were caused by structural faults: co-dominant leaders, narrow limb attachment, included bark, over-lifting, hatracking, poor vertical limb placement, crown imbalance, overly-dense crowns, crossing and in-growing branches. All could have been corrected with proper pruning. Action was taken to reduce future damage. The city arborist made a complete, computerized inventory of all trees on public property, creating a data-base with all structural problems identified. These were prioritized so the worst could be addressed first. After any pruning work was done on a city tree, a follow-up evaluation was made, and any additional pruning needed was scheduled. Pruning followed the recommendations of state specialists and three county extension agents with the University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service. City workers were taught using lectures, demonstrations, site visits, CES publications, and individualized instruction. In addition, all new trees purchased were grades FL Fancy or FL no. 1, based on Grades and Standards for Nursery Plants; such trees require little or no corrective pruning at planting and mature as structurally-sound trees which resist wind damage. Two later storms (1993, 1999) produced winds in North Miami similar to those of Hurricane Andrew. Together they destroyed only 35 trees which cost $35,000 to remove. These data demonstrate that following CES pruning recommendations reduces storm damage to trees, saving money and preserving the urban forest canopy.