City Trees

to encapsulate the areas that we are discussing in the broader application of the term "urban forestry." Tied together with the definition from Helms (1998), "the art, science and technology of managing trees and forest resources in and around urban community eco- systems for the physiological, sociological, economic and aesthetic benefits trees provide society," we begin to capture what is included in the professional side of urban forestry and its objectives—provided by Helms— and the spatial scope—provided by Miller (1996). What is "Urban," Anyways? These definitions are also confounded by how we choose to define "urban." Urbanity is a complex aspect of communities which can be described both qual- itatively and quantitatively. If you were to examine the images in this article, you would likely be able to find consensus with other readers about what is urban versus rural. Quantitatively, organizations and governments have created their own binary systems of urban and rural. For example, since 1971, Statistics Canada has defined urban as an area with at least 1,000 people at a density of at least 400 people per square kilometer. This definition creates issues, however, as there are many rural municipali- ties which would then be considered urban areas. Such dichotomization of the urban-rural gradient has been critiqued in urban ecology literature as it creates a dummy variable (a complex variable which is turned into a dichotomous variable) that does not represent the full spectrum of urbanization. To take the approach of urban ecology, then, is to view urban forestry as being reflective of the objectives and man- agement at varying levels of urbanization and human influence. This approach is how I present urban for- estry in rural communities: a profession and study concerned with the management of trees which occur or are planted between houses within a community. This issue—the lack of clear terminology when referring to the trees occurring between houses—makes it chal- lenging for rural communities to find access to funds and expertise in managing community trees. While "urban forestry" usually aptly fits the management and mainte- nance objectives related to these trees, the lesser degree of urbanity in many of these communities precludes them from using this term. While some regions of the United States and Europe would describe these areas A rural cottage-country area in Manitoba, Canada. 28 CityTREES

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