Urban and community forestry is the field of practice that manages trees and forests in cities, suburbs and towns, often with substantial civic participation and institutional partnership. Urban and community forestry is the management of all the trees in a municipality. Urban and community forests are dynamic ecosystems that help clean air and water, and conserve energy. They also add form, structure and beauty to communities, reduce noise, provide places for recreation, and add economic value to our communities.
CAL FIRE Urban and Community Forestry is dedicated to California's efforts under AB32 to adapt and mitigate climate change. The workbook and accompanying template are intended as tools for Virginia communities to use to assess their preparedness for community wildstorms, mitigate tree risk and reduce tree-related storm damage, and develop a community plan for forest storm mitigation. Forest Service, Xcel Energy, and several corporate and private sponsors to provide programs and services to Colorado communities. The Colorado State Forest Service can help your community decide what type of inventory is best for your needs and provide options to meet those needs, as well as planning for the management of urban tree resources.
The group within the Forest Service with direct oversight of these resources is called the Urban and Community Forest Program (U&CF). Trees provide numerous environmental, social, health and economic benefits for people, but urban areas present challenging environments for trees to grow and survive. CTC is a member-driven organization and encourages Colorado communities to become members to increase their chances of obtaining grants for planting and maintaining trees. The DCR Urban and Community Forestry Program helps communities and nonprofit groups protect, cultivate and manage community trees and forest ecosystems to improve the environment and improve livability throughout Massachusetts.
The Tree Campus USA program recognizes college campuses that effectively manage their campus' trees, develop community connectivity beyond campus boundaries to foster healthy urban forests, and strive to engage the student population using opportunities to service learning centered on campus, and community, forestry efforts. Urban and community forests are the associated trees, plants and ecosystems everywhere people are: rural roads in rural towns, new developments in suburbs, or concrete neighborhoods in old mill towns and cities. In general, though not exclusively, urban forests are thought to provide services; recreation, aesthetics, wildlife habitat, stormwater management, carbon storage and interception of pollutants in the air, for example. The New York State Urban and Community Forestry Program (UCF) is a partnership between DEC forestry professionals, public and private individuals, and volunteer organizations that care about trees in urban environments.
Urban forests help filter air and water, control stormwater, conserve energy, and provide habitat and shade for animals.