How to take your urban forestry program to the next level with an Urban Forest Master Plan. Explores the differences between a Management and Master Plan.
3. What is an Urban Forest Master Plan?
An Urban Forest Master Plan is a road
map, providing detailed information,
recommendations and resources needed
to effectively and proactively manage and
grow a city's tree canopy.
4. What is an Urban Forest Master Plan?
More importantly it provides a shared vision
for the future of the urban forest to inspire and
engage stakeholders in the care and protection
of trees.
5. 11/1/2017 5
Management Plan VS. Master Plan
Management Plan Master Plan
Tree Population (Data) Public (Streets & Parks) Public & Private
People
Goals
Creation Timeframe
Implementation Timeframe
Costs
6. 11/1/2017 6
Management Plan VS. Master Plan
Management Plan Master Plan
Tree Population (Data) Public (Streets & Parks) Public & Private
People City Staff All Stakeholders
Goals
Creation Timeframe
Implementation Timeframe
Costs
7. 11/1/2017 7
Management Plan VS. Master Plan
Management Plan Master Plan
Tree Population (Data) Public (Streets & Parks) Public & Private
People City Staff All Stakeholders
Goals Proactive Maintenance Shared Vision
Creation Timeframe
Implementation Timeframe
Costs
8. 11/1/2017 8
Management Plan VS. Master Plan
Management Plan Master Plan
Tree Population (Data) Public (Streets & Parks) Public & Private
People City Staff All Stakeholders
Goals Proactive Maintenance Shared Vision
Creation Timeframe 4 â 6 weeks 9 â 12 months
Implementation Timeframe
Costs
9. 11/1/2017 9
Management Plan VS. Master Plan
Management Plan Master Plan
Tree Population (Data) Public (Streets & Parks) Public & Private
People City Staff All Stakeholders
Goals Proactive Maintenance Shared Vision
Creation Timeframe 4 â 6 weeks 9 â 12 months
Implementation Timeframe 5 â 10 years 10 â 20 years
Costs
10. 11/1/2017 10
Management Plan VS. Master Plan
Management Plan Master Plan
Tree Population (Data) Public (Streets & Parks) Public & Private
People City Staff All Stakeholders
Goals Proactive Maintenance Shared Vision
Creation Timeframe 4 â 6 weeks 9 â 12 months
Implementation Timeframe 5 â 10 years 10 â 20 years
Costs $3,000 - $10,000 $25,000 - $150,000
11. 11/1/2017 11
Agenda
1. Define a Master Plan
2. Why create a Master Plan
â Define reason/driver
â Process
â Approach
3. Components of a Master Plan
12. 11/1/2017 12
Whatever We Call ItâŚ
⢠Blueprint
⢠Roadmap
⢠Framework
Image Credit: Amazon.com
TomTom Navigation Unit
Image Credit: Tobermory Press Inc.
https://www.ecr.co.za/shows/jane-linley-thomas-show/woman-follows-car-gps-and-ends-lake/
13. 11/1/2017 13
So Why Do You Need One?
ď§ To proactively address growing
environmental challenges
ď§ To practice and model
cooperation and efficiency
ď§ To create clear goals and
baseline metrics for the entire
urban forest
ď§ To foster long-term advocates
and increase civic participation
in the preservation of our urban
forest
ď§ To create a coordinated vision
14. Why Pittsburgh needed a plan
City
Planting
Budget
Total Annual
Street Tree
Expenditure
Pittsburgh $0 $816,400
New York City $8,160,000 $21,774,576
Minneapolis $223,855 $9,209,041
Charlotte $180,000 $1,819,460
Charleston $109,125 $531,200
The City
Utility
Companies
Non Profits
Allegheny
County Parks
PA DCNR
Residents
Business
Owners
15. Desired outcomes
⢠Maximize Benefits
⢠Achieve Sustainability
⢠Minimize Safety Risks
⢠Improve Quality of Life
⢠Protect Resource
⢠Increase efficiency and
cooperation
16. Trees for the Future
Symposium of 50 key stakeholders began planning process
⢠To proactively address growing environmental
challenges
⢠To create a coordinated vision
⢠To practice and model efficiency and cooperation
⢠To create baseline metrics and clear goals for the
urban forest
⢠To develop long term advocates and increase civic
participation
17. 11/1/2017 17
Itâs All About Process
⢠Public Meetings
⢠Key Stakeholder
Meetings
⢠Inventory/Assessment
⢠Analysis
⢠Develop Plan
⢠Implement
⢠Monitor
⢠Update
Image Credit: Indy Parks and the Department of Public Works
Indy Greenways Full Circle Plan
18. The planning process
⢠Steering Committee
⢠Existing reports and data
⢠Public outreach and surveys
⢠State of the Urban Forest report
⢠The audience and layout of the plan
⢠Reviewing other cities urban forest master plans
19. Build a Team
⢠Jackson Clark Partners â facilitated
master plan benchmark report and
public surveys and meetings.
⢠University of Vermont Spatial Analysis
Lab â conducted Urban Tree Canopy
(UTC) analysis
⢠Davey Resource Group â conducted i-
tree ECO and lead plan writing
20. Create a Steering Committee
⢠Steering Committee Member
Organizations
Tree Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Shade Tree Commission
City Forester, City of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Shade Tree Commission
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, TreeVitalize Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
Department of City Planning, City of Pittsburgh
Duquesne Light
The Pennsylvania State University
Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry
Davey Resource Group
Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN)
Pennsylvania Environmental Council
Remaking Cities Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group
USDA Forest Service
21. 11/1/2017 21
Adaptive Management
⢠Urban Forestry:
Planning and
Managing Urban
Greenspaces
⢠Miller, R. W. 1988. New
Jersey: Prentice Hall.
⢠ufmptoolkit.net
⢠Inland Urban Forest
Council
What Do We
Have?
What Do We
Want?
How Do We
Get There?
How Are We
Doing?
22. 11/1/2017 22
Criteria & Indicators
⢠Criteria and Indicators for
Sustainable Urban Forest
Planning and Management
⢠Kenney, W. A., et al. 2011.
Arboriculture & Urban Forestry
37(3): 108 â 117.
⢠The Sustainable Urban Forest,
a Step-by-Step Approach
⢠USDA Forest Service and
The Davey Tree Expert Company,
2016
Kenney, W. A., et al. 2011. âCriteria and Indicators for Sustainable Urban Forest Planning
and Management.â Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 37(3): 108 â 117.
25. 11/1/2017 25
Agenda
1. Define a Master Plan
2. Why create a Master Plan
3. Components of a Master Plan
â What do we have?
â What do we want?
â How do we get there?
â How are we doing?
40. Total Number of Trees
0 2,000,000 4,000,000 6,000,000 8,000,000 10,000,000
Morgantown, WV
Syracuse, NY
Minneapolis, MN
Woodbridge, NJ
Boston, MA
Washinton, DC
Philadelphia, PA
Baltimore, MD
Pittsburgh, PA
New York, NY
Toronto, Canada
Atlanta, GA
Number of Trees
45. 11/1/2017 45
Public Opinion
⢠1,699 surveys completed
⢠52% improve quality of life
⢠10% lower energy bills
⢠52% hardscape damage
⢠2% trees cost too much
⢠More trees
⢠Better maintenance
⢠64% more planting &
protection
⢠37% support 1% fee
46. HOW DO WE GET THERE?
Vision, Goals + Objectives
47. Vision
⢠Over the next 20 years, Pittsburghâs urban forest
will be vital and well-managed asset that is locally
valued and nationally recognized for its positive
social, environmental, economic and public health
impacts on the community and the greater region.
48.
49.
50. Cleveland Tree Plan
⢠Goal #1: A Shift in Thinking to Acknowledge
Trees as Critical Community Infrastructure
⢠Goal #2: Reverse the Trend of Canopy Loss
⢠Goal #3: Assume Full Stewardship for the Tree
Infrastructure
⢠Develop Plan of Action â 9 Actions
51.
52. HOW ARE WE DOING?
Vision, Goals + Objectives
⢠Monitor
⢠Analyze
⢠Revise
53. Roll Out & Implementation
⢠Partnerships!
⢠Urban Forest
Working Groups
⢠Allied Non-Profits
54.
55.
56.
57. Implementation
⢠Annual State of the
Urban Forest
⢠Education campaign
⢠Fundraising
⢠Programs adapted
to
recommendations
⢠Public Support and
Codify
Weâre talking about a long range strategic document that addresses the ENTIRE urban forest. Might seem too nebulous, but good things are happening around the country with plans like this.
I like to think of these plans akin to GPS navigation. We could blindly follow it and potentially make a wrong turn into a lake. Or we use it to guide our journey, along with other inputs and research and preparation.
Based on the share of public trees that makes up the entire UF and the growing access we have to information about the entire resourceâs structure and function, it is becoming more necessary for Cities and their partners to take initiative with a long range comprehensive plan.
Qualify your chart by adding a date
Mention that these reasons were created by participants at the symposium â important to create buy-in â same with definition of ufmp and uf.
2010 hosted meeting to bring together 50 key stakeholders
Relying only on an even broader municipal comprehensive plan to address the entire urban forest can dilute opportunities to engage the public and all types of potential stewards in the ways the urban forestry master plan process offers.
M Leff exhibiting at Partners and showcasing the Sustainable Urban Forest guide. Other great ways to evaluate and benchmark your municipal program that could be incorporated in the the UF planning process include the SMA accreditation program and Urban Forestry Southâs Urban Forestry Sustainability and Management Review System.
New tools and processes are continuing to be created and adapted for urban forest planning.
Vibrant Cities Lab is a great example of this. American Forests, Forest Service & National Association of Regional councils created this great website/resource to help guide communities through the process of implementing urban forestry in your community.
You could use & adapt this in the Master Planning process for sure. Lotâs of great case studies on a variety of important topics like human health, stormwater, crime, etc. and how all of these are affected by urban forests and our management of those urban forests.
How can you manage something if you donât know what you have?
One of the 1st decisions was to get as much high quality data as possible that would inform and be useful.
Initial catalyst for most of this project and fair to say Tree Pittsburgh was the original street tree inventory in 2005.
WhyâŚ.inventory found backlog of maintenance (no surprise)âŚ.citizen outrage of removalsâŚ.enter Tree Pittsburgh
The previous information was already existing. Majority of Urban Forest is on private land. If this is going to be a true âMaster Planâ we canât ignore the majority of the asset.
Letâs go private.
UTC done by University of Vermont
So we know the entire forest but we need to go deeper. Pittsburgh is somewhat unique in that there are 90 distinct neighborhoods. If we are going to get anything done we need to go to the neighborhood level.
So what is the UTC of the neighborhoods?
More than ½ of the Cityâs neighborhoods are below the mean of 42% with nearly 60% of population living in these areas.
Hays and Glen Hazel have the highest at 81% and 80%
Chateau and North Shore have the lowest at 5% and 6%. While Chateau and Terrace Village have the highest Possible Tree Canopy at 47%.
The plan process WHAT DO WE HAVE has itâs own process (made possible by iTree)
Now we know where everything is and we know where we can be planting but now we donât know what we should be planting. We donât know the structure and function of that UTC.
200 random 1/10 th acre plots collecting a ton of information.
2,628,000 trees
Residential property has the greatest amount of trees
8.6 trees per capita
0.09 street trees per capita
(1 for every 11 persons)
73.4 trees/acre
Commercial & Government
Sustainability!
4 of Top 10 street trees maple
34%
9%+ of urban forest is ash
EAB
Most of urban forest regeneration is natural regeneration and probably not the most desirable species palate out there.
Letâs talk about some of the Functional benefits. People can really understand this because we all have energy bills and see air pollution.
What are your goals for the UF?
What funding options make sense?
What is the best way to communicate UF news to you?
What is your vision for Pittsburghâs UF in 20 years?