Addenda to the Special Issue: The Science and Practice of Managing Forests in Cities

In these addenda to our first special issue, The Science and Practice of Managing Forests in Cities, we present five new case studies documenting approaches to conserving, managing, and building an equitable workforce for Forested Natural Areas in cities across the U.S. These case studies were presented at the third annual gathering of the Forests in Cities network which took place in Seattle, Washington in November, 2022

Second Addenda to The Special Issue: The Science and Practice of Managing Forests in Cities

In this second set of addenda to our first special issue, The Science and Practice of Managing Forests in Cities, we present seven new case studies documenting approaches to evaluating, managing, and protecting forested natural areas in cities across the U.S. These case studies were presented at the fourth gathering of the Forests in Cities network which took place in Miami-Dade County, Florida in February, 2024

TreeKIT: Measuring, Mapping, and Collaboratively Managing Urban Forests

As cities across the United States expand their stock of street trees to address a range of environmental sustainability goals, municipal foresters are increasingly turning to volunteers to supplement their tree care efforts. TreeKIT is a small non-profit organization that helps city dwellers collaboratively measure, map, and manage urban forests. Using TreeKIT’s mapping methods, volunteers are able to create spatially accurate inventories of street trees. In the process, volunteers learn to identify street trees and develop an effective appreciation for their local urban forest. The following article describes the TreeKIT mapping methods and ongoing efforts to scale these techniques for large, synchronous street tree census initiatives

Realizing the Potential of Urban Forests: Forests in Cities Workshop Themes and City Case Study Descriptions

Like all forests, forests in cities require resources, science, management, protection, and programming in order to achieve desired conditions. Yet, achieving the desired condition in an urban environment may require new approaches that account for the dynamic and complex nature of the urban setting. These decisions and actions are occurring at the city, park, or site scale. Unlike national parks, or wilderness areas that have a national or state budget, staffing structures, and regulations; forests in cities are regulated and managed primarily at the local municipal scale. This also makes the approaches to forest management planning and policy regulations tailored to individual city governance structures, despite many similar challenges arising at the national level. As part of our Forest in Cities Workshop, we partnered with 12 cities across the United States to create case studies around common themes related to achieving healthy forests as a part of sustainable and healthy cities. Our goal was to provide examples of work on the ground but also provide a lens upon which the work of individual cities could be contextualized as part of common themes and solutions that could be applied broadly. Below we describe the themes of the workshop and the case studies developed by the cities that are included in this special issue

The Science and Practice of Managing Forests in Cities: Introduction to the Special Issue

The following special issue includes a practitioner note that provides context about Forested Natural Areas in cities and introduces eight themes that are explored in the 25 practitioner case studies. This publication is the product of a fruitful workshop that brought together leaders in the field of Forested Natural Areas management. The case studies document both widespread approaches that are being used in cities across the U.S., as well as innovation that is taking place in individual cities. The goals of both the workshop and this publication are to raise national awareness of urban forested natural areas, improve their management, and contribute to a community of practice