City Trees is a premier publication focused on urban + community forestry. In each issue, you’ll learn how to best manage the trees in your community and more!
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/701610
12 City Trees The many roles of urban trees in improving quality of life were noted in 2013 and again in 2014 during the annual sustainability summit hosted by the Cleveland, Ohio Mayor's Office of Sustainability. One of the working groups that formed at the summit had the goal of making Cleveland the Forest City once again. As grassroots momentum for this developed, several key part- ners, including the City of Cleveland and its Urban Forestry Section, stepped up to support and fund a plan focused on culture change and reforestation. The City's partners include Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, LAND Studio, The Holden Arboretum, and Western Reserve Land Conservancy. Together, the City and its partners form the Cleveland Urban Forest Coalition, which formally organized, added a charter, and con- tinues to broaden its membership. Cleveland was once a vibrantly green city with urban tree cano- py estimates exceeding 40%. However, Cleveland now has only 19% canopy cover—and trending downward. Future projections in a business-as-usual scenario indicate a drop to 14% canopy cover by the year 2040. You can see the methodology used for these assessments in Appendix D of the Cleveland Tree Plan. Losing canopy means losing significant benefits to the commu- nity. In Cleveland, benefits associated with trees exceed $28 million annually, with stormwater mitigation accounting for $11 million, increased property values nearly $7 million, and energy savings nearly $3.5 million. Having this information about the tree resource and its associated benefits was key in beginning the stakeholder outreach and engagement process for the Cleveland Tree Plan (the "Plan"). With partners in place, Davey Resource Group, as consultant and Plan developer, laid out the framework to assess the state of the urban forest in Cleveland. They helped us ask: what do we have, what do we want, how do we get there, and how are we doing? This process was refined to include criteria and indicators of sustainable urban forestry. The tree resource, its active players, and the overall management approach were analyzed to provide an indication of the level of performance specific to Cleveland (see "Indicators of a Sustainable Urban Forest" graphic). The level of Cleveland's urban forest performance was shared with a large cross section of stakeholders that included munic- ipal staff, state staff, non-governmental organizations, the pri- vate sector, utility companies, and many others. As the partners and stakeholders learned about the low comprehensive score for Cleveland's urban forest, they were encouraged to give feed- back to guide the Plan. It became apparent that canopy loss The Cleveland Tree Plan: Reforest the Forest City by Chad Clink, Community Forester, The Holden Arboretum Images and graphics courtesy the Cleveland Urban Forest Coalition except where noted Cleveland skyline by Avogadro94