Urban Forest Management Plan
Toolkit

This is likely to be one of the first questions you will need to address when proposing to develop or revise an urban forest management plan - why is it needed? Can you make a compelling case to show why the plan is needed at this time? The reasons you advance will need to resonate with those who will approve and fund the development and implementation of the plan.

The amount of background information that you will need to provide will be related to how well your local decision makers understand the benefits provided by the urban forest and the costs associated with urban forest management.

Trees provide a variety of important benefits in the urban environment. These benefits include removing carbon from the atmosphere, reducing energy use, improving air quality, moderating stormwater flows, protecting water quality, improving economic sustainability, supporting physical and mental health of residents, and providing habitat for wildlife. See the Benefits of trees page for additional resources that discuss these and other benefits that urban trees provide. The urban forest can play a role in meeting carbon reduction mandates required by the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.

The community's trees will need to be managed in order to maintain this stream of benefits which are critical to the community's economic well-being and overall quality of life. Unlike most other urban infrastructure, the value of the urban forest generally increases over time. Benefits provided by the urban forest may take years to develop to desired levels, but tree resources can be adversely impacted over short time periods by a lack of timely management or poor management choices. An urban forest management plan helps a community protect the investment it has made in its community forest and provides a blueprint for enhancing and improving that asset to maximize the benefits provided while minimizing costs required to maintain the resource.

Whether for good or ill, the community's trees are being managed in some fashion whether a plan is in place or not. Without a vision and plan for the management of the urban forest as a whole, however, it is unlikely to thrive and provide the benefits that the community desires. The lack of a management program does not mean that money is being saved - improper or inadequate management takes its toll on the tree resource and the community will directly pay for these adverse effects in terms of both dollars and a reduced quality of life.