City Trees

This shows sidewalk damage and a large limb that has fallen from a street tree planted, likely by the city, many years ago. Detroit residents who were resistant to tree planting often noted that they felt existing large trees on city property were not adequately cared for and therefore affected the appearance of the neighborhood and presented a safety concern. Highlighting the importance of outsiders under- standing residents' experiences when they come to the neighborhood to "do good," a woman who submitted a "no-tree request" said to me, "You know what, I really appreciate you today because that shows that someone is listening and someone is trying to find out what's really going on in our thoughts, the way we feel, and I just really appre- ciate you…And maybe next time they can do a survey and ask us, if they would like us to have the trees." As this research demonstrates, planting trees in his- torically marginalized neighborhoods without first seeking to acknowledge, understand, and repair historical trauma experienced by residents contrib- utes to a system of oppression that undermines the ability of urban and community forestry initiatives to achieve fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all residents, regardless of their race or income. When engaging with residents who have experienced generations of oppression and discrimination based on race, urban and community forestry practitioners (especially those who are not from the neighbor- hoods they serve), need to view tree-planting as the social and cultural phenomenon that it is—not just an ecological problem with strictly ecological solutions. 15 A first step to enacting equitable urban and com- munity forestry is to acknowledge the ways in which dominant cultural and social experiences with trees guides—and limits—perspectives on the goals we should strive for when planting trees in cities, as well as the appropriate ways to go about achieving those goals. Urban forestry in the United States is traditionally a field of mostly white men, and a growing number of white women. 16,17 This demographic reality comes with limited viewpoints that require intentional dialogue with non-white residents about their experiences, values, needs, and concerns regarding the urban forest in order to chart an equitable path forward for urban forests and the diverse communities they serve. There are many ways to advance this endeavor. I have partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation to create an environmental justice assessment survey for >> urban-forestry.com 21

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