Urban Forest Connections Webinar Series
Hosted by the USDA Forest Service, this webinar series creates a stage for scientists and practitioners to share the latest research and approaches on urban and community forestry. Topics include issues affecting the health of the trees and forests that communities depend on to buffer local climate extremes, and provide food, support human health, water […]
The Stewardship Mapping Project (STEW-MAP)
People across the country work together to plant and care for trees, share gardens, remove litter, plan river cleanups, and find other ways to green their communities. These land managers, non-profits, and volunteers build stronger, healthier, and more resilient landscapes. But who are these groups? And how might they boost their impact? Started by scientists […]
Urban Tree Canopy Assessment: A Community’s Path to Understanding and Managing the Urban Forest
A sound canopy assessment provides the foundation for crafting an urban forest management plan and creating the programs and policies necessary to implement it.U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, 2019. View resource .elementor-element-16b83c9 .elementor-button { background-color: #337577; border: 1px solid #337577; border-radius: 25px; padding: 0.75rem 1.25rem; margin: 0.25rem; font-size: 1rem; color: #fff; display: inline-flex; […]
Urban Tree Monitoring: A Resource Guide
The guidelines proposed in Urban Tree Monitoring: A Resource Guide were developed and refined over many years to address the need for standardized urban tree monitoring protocols. It provides in-depth guidance for urban forest managers and researchers who want to design and implement a tree monitoring project. This guide is a companion to Urban Tree […]
National Landcover Database
Federal agencies, led by the US Geological Survey, maintain a downloadable database of land cover, now at 30-meter resolution. Map layers, including impervious cover, can be created for any community or neighborhood. View resource .elementor-element-53288c2 .elementor-button { background-color: #337577; border: 1px solid #337577; border-radius: 25px; padding: 0.75rem 1.25rem; margin: 0.25rem; font-size: 1rem; color: #fff; display: […]
A Mapping Tool for Understanding Health and Air Quality at the County Level
EPA’s BenMap site provides mapping data for both air pollution and associated health impacts at the county level. Requires Geographic Information System (GIS) skills. View resource
Plant Hardiness Zone Map
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) publishes this map to help you determine which trees and plants are most likely to thrive at a specific location and how the hardiness zones are changing as the climate warms. View resource
i-Tree
i-Tree is a free science-based tool to quantify tree benefits, like how the estimated amount of carbon a tree will store in its lifetime. It is versatile and can estimate benefits from an individual tree to large projects. View resource
EnviroAtlas
An open-access data library from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which offers geo-specific data on multiple environmental, economic, land use, and demographic variables. View resource
Assessing Urban Forest Effects and Values
An analysis of trees in New York City reveals that this city has about 5.2 million trees with canopies that cover 20.9 percent of the area. The urban forest currently stores about 1.35 million tons of carbon valued at $24.9 million. In addition, these trees remove about 42,300 tons of carbon per year and about […]
Local Economics
Trees in cities are not grown and managed for products that can be bought and sold on markets, but they do provide many intangible services and benefits. They are used to convert intangible benefits to dollar sums. Wolf, K.L. (2010). Community Economics – A Literature Review. In: Green Cities: Good Health. College of the Environment, […]
The Influence of Trees and Landscaping on Rental Rates
This study investigates the effect of trees and landscaping on office rental rates, based on a comparison of 85 office buildings that comprise 270 individual and unique leases in the Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., metropolitan area. The individual analysis of the variables showed a strong positive effect for those buildings with good landscaping aesthetics and building […]