City Trees

maintenance of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) at the municipal level. In some cases, this requires sifting through unclear or conflicting municipal reg- ulatory language pertaining to landscaping, zoning, development, and operations. The Vermont League of Cities and Towns, a non-profit and nonpartisan organization that serves municipal governments, steps in to complete a thorough municipal bylaw review and offers guidance on resolving discrepancies and strengthening language in support of GSI. The project's graphic designer develops a suite of photo simulations of GSI practices that support proposed or existing bylaw language in each town. To accom- pany the direct technical assistance, the 2018 Green Streets Vermont Guide provides both instruction and inspiration, preparing cities and towns statewide to create ecologically functional right-of-way design. The Resilient Right-of-Ways project in rural towns focuses on the broad array of roadside scenarios found along Vermont's backroads. Both conflict and opportunity arise where our miles of unpaved roads wind their way through deep forests, grown-in pasture, expansive wet- lands, and growing development. Vegetation is stuck in a stage of early succession, subjected to repeated clearing, sand, salt, airborne sediment, and vehicle exhaust. Invasive plants easily squirrel their way along exposed roadside soil and forest pests, such as the new-to-Vermont emerald ash borer, touch the edge of our built environment. For the rural town project partners, Vermont UCF staff captures the current state of typical sections of right-of-way. Data collection records the existing influences in the right-of-way: the presence of utility lines, the extent of mechanical damage to trees and shrubs, the health of the overstory, the identity and distribution of invasive plants, the presence of active agriculture in the right-of-way, and the health and location of historic trees. The staff then guides towns towards a future roadside condition that incorporates recommended forestry techniques, risk management goals, stormwater infrastructure upgrades, and preservation of aesthetic and cultural values. Recommended action items also consider existing and neighboring land uses, ultimately high- lighting select areas in town that would benefit from tree planting, restoration, preservation, thinning, risk management (particularly in regard to tree mor- tality due to EAB), or other silvicultural practices. One hundred and fifty years ago, Vermont's land- scape was largely pasture, a result of deforestation that occurred to support agriculture and a booming sheep industry. Until these industries declined, forests seemed expendable and erasable. Today, after over a century of reforestation, Vermont's forests are declining in acreage again. The historic pattern of village centers surrounded by agricultural fields has eroded into sprawling cities encircled by shrinking and fragmented forests. Single homes and small developments dot the landscape and over 15,000 miles (24,000 km) of roads criss-cross the stands of once contiguous, although young, forest. Despite these patterns, we do now know the true value of our forests. Because public trees weave their way in and out of our built environment, we recognize that the stewards of our trees are not just foresters— they're on planning commissions, leading road crews, writing municipal laws, engineering stormwater solutions, and running farms. In a state of few cities and many trees, Vermont UCF is learning that our audiences are diverse and our partnerships must be broad. Understanding the continuum of all of our urban and community trees is essential to supporting vibrant social and ecological communities. Small but mighty, the Vermont Urban & Community Forestry Program strives to promote these public green spaces, no matter what their shape or size, and bring our forest pride to the everyday spaces we inhabit. A thin strip of right-of-way vegetation separates this unpaved road from a pond in Calais, Vermont. www.urban-forestry.com 31

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