by Joseph Murray
from Inquiry, Volume 7, Number 1, Spring 2002, 55-63
© Copyright 2002 Virginia Community College System
Abstract
Blue Ridge Community College offers many resources for urban forestry,
including a career study certificate program slated to begin Fall Semester 2002.
What is an Urban Forest?
Most communities across Virginia are unaware of the existence and importance of urban forests. Perhaps a contributing factor is that the term “urban forest” is an oxymoron. An urban forest includes all of the vegetation in and around a dense human settlement (Miller, 1997). When buildings and other man-made structures are included with the urban forest, a complex ecosystem exists. Like other ecosystems, the urban ecosystem is difficult to study and predict. Yet, the urban ecosystem and, in particular, the urban forests are an indicator for the health of the humans in that area. In short, our health can be judged by the health of our urban forests.
If the health of a community is reflected by the health of a community’s urban forests, then all indicators point to a serious problem for many communities across Virginia. The task of quantifying a community’s urban forest is still in its infancy. At this time, tree cover appears to be the best indicator for measuring the extent of a community’s urban forest. The tree cover for a community can be measured thanks to images taken by NASA’s Earth-observing Landsat satellites. Software programs are available to convert Landsat images into detailed urban tree cover images, enabling the determination of a community’s percent tree cover. Unfortunately, these images reveal a dramatic decline of urban forests across the United States. Urban sprawl, planned and unplanned, has been steadily replacing natural areas in Virginia, as well as across the United States. In Virginia, the population percent growth from 1990-2000 was 14.4% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). These individuals need a place to live, work, and shop, which results in more buildings, roads, and other components of a gray infrastructure. In a sense, urban sprawl is converting Virginia’s natural forests into urban forests.
Trees in an urban environment are exposed to a great many more stresses than trees in a rural setting. The average city tree lives only thirty-two years and dies just before it reaches its ultimate potential to benefit an urban area (American Forests, 1989). Because of high tree mortality in urban areas, communities are experiencing a “tree deficit” in their urban forests. Trees have been disappearing from urban areas at a rate of four removals for each new tree planted (American Forests, 1989). Gary Moll (2001) estimates that the urban forests across the United States have experienced a tree deficit of over 634 million trees within the last 30 years.
One would think that the actions of individuals responsible for installing and caring for urban forests are regulated by the state, but that is not the case. Aside from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ regulatory control over pesticide usage and basic OSHA workplace standards, it is up to the professional societies to encourage arborists to adhere to voluntary standards of workmanship and safety.
Arborists, therefore, are turning to their professional organizations for education. As a result, one organization, the International Society of Arboriculture, has enjoyed a steady increase in membership from 6,173 members in 1992 to 14,836 members in 2001 (ISA, 2001). This significant increase in members has filtered down to the local chapters as well. Virginia has a total of 439 members in the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the ISA compared to 294 members in Maryland and 250 in North Carolina.
The lack of state regulation may change in the near future with pending legislation. A mandate has been proposed that will enable the Board of Professional and Occupational Regulation to study the feasibility of regulating arboricultural practices and licensure of arborists (Hull & Scott, 2001a; Hull & Scott 2001b; Hull, 2001).
Nationwide, city arborists and managers are beginning to recognize the fact that maintenance of existing trees is more cost effective than routinely replacing trees that die from neglect (USA Today, 1999). As more money is budgeted for maintenance, the demand for trained arborists should continue to grow. It is difficult to obtain accurate employment verification for the number of individuals involved in the tree and landscape industry since the Virginia Employment Commission still uses vague categories when describing the green industry (Other Agriculture & Forestry Occupations). The employment prospects for an individual interested in arboriculture are very good. According to a survey the author conducted last spring, seventeen local tree and landscape companies in a three-county area (Rockingham, Augusta, and Albemarle) were expecting to hire from 62 to 74 individuals for entry-level positions next year.
Nearly everyone has been exposed to the litany of how trees benefit humans and the environment. A partial list of these benefits has been provided in Table 1. Local and state governments are beginning to recognize the importance of their communities’ green infrastructure, and that, like the gray infrastructure (i.e. roads, sewers, utilities), it too needs regular upgrading and expansion.
Table 1. A partial list of just some of the benefits that trees provide.
|
Increase Shade & Cooling |
Improve Air Quality |
|
Increase Property Value |
Provide Wildlife Habitats |
|
Decrease Storm Water Runoff |
Reduce Stress |
|
Decrease Soil Erosion |
Decrease Crime |
|
Improve Water Quality |
Decrease Hospital Stays & Medications |
|
Reduce Energy Use |
Enhance Beautification |
Most of the benefits can be addressed within three categories: ecological, economical, and societal.
Perhaps the greatest ecological benefit urban forests provide is storm water management. In 1972 the wide sweeping Federal Clean Water Act was enacted to help manage water pollutants. Today, the major water pollutant is storm water runoff due to an increase in impervious surfaces in urban areas (Beattie, Kollin, & Moll, 2000). Trees and soils work together to manage storm water runoff in three ways. First, the rain is intercepted by leaves, twigs, and trunks and held on these surfaces long enough for some evaporation to occur. Second, water can be released back to the atmosphere through transpiration through the tree. And third, trees provide time for water to percolate through the soil profile to recharge the water table.
At a time when impervious surfaces and other gray infrastructures increase temperatures in urban areas by up to eight degrees, heavily forested urban areas can decrease urban temperatures by up to seven degrees (Georgia Forestry Commission, 2001). Parked cars are a major source of hydrocarbon emissions from fuel evaporation in gas tanks and gas lines, but cars parked under shade trees experience a significant reduction in hydrocarbon emissions and have interior temperatures twenty to thirty degrees cooler than cars in full sun (Scott, Simpson, & McPherson, 1999).
Trees have long been known for their ability to “clean” the air of pollutants. A single, mature tree sequesters and stores approximately twenty-six pounds of carbon dioxide and releases enough oxygen for a family of four to breathe for a full year (Dombeck, 1997). Trees can also remove nitrous dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, and particulate matter.
Planting trees in urban areas makes good economic sense. For every dollar invested, the urban forest returns nearly two dollars. The trees in an urban forest provide cooling and reduce storm water runoff at lower costs than traditional engineering methods. Trees can serve a role in countering pollution created by industries, and this role can be quantified. Six million trees will provide enough shade to decrease demand for electricity for homes in the southwest U.S., and this will then decrease carbon dioxide emissions by thirty-two percent, in addition to other air pollutants, to a value of $270 million in emission reduction credits (McPherson & Simpson, 1999). Industries are especially interested in reducing their pollutant emissions so that they may receive emission reduction credits and sell these credits on the open market. American Forests (1999) performed a case study on the Baltimore-Washington area using Landsat images collected from 1973 to 1997 and found that the tree cover declined from 51% to 37%. During this time there was a 19% increase in storm water runoff. The cost for managing this additional runoff comes to $1.08 billion in the development of expanding the gray infrastructure for storm water retention.
Large urban areas are beginning to recognize the economic benefits of an urban forest. In Los Angeles, public schools will remove twenty million square feet of asphalt from schoolyards and plant 4,000 trees (LADWP, 2000). It is estimated that this will reduce air conditioning costs by 20%. This reduction in energy use translates into 20% less pollution associated with electricity production. The USDA estimates that after 30 years this initiative will return $2.37 for every one dollar invested.
Trees are good for business. A University of Washington survey concluded that shoppers will pay as much as 10% more for goods and services when the shops are located in districts with tree cover (Georgia Forest Commission, 2001). Real estate agents have long recognized that trees have a significant influence on the salability of a home (CTLA, 2000).
The urban forest should be considered as a mayor’s best asset since it helps to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the community. The benefits that an urban forest provides really do matter to the citizens. Individuals and businesses looking to relocate rank clean air and water as two of the most important characteristics when selecting a new community. Urban forests can improve a community’s health in a number of ways. In the U.S., health problems from outdoor air pollutants cost forty to fifty billion dollars a year (Georgia Forest Commission, 2001). Trees trap many air pollutants like particulate matter, resulting in fewer asthma attacks. Many studies have shown that urban forests have a calming effect on individuals, resulting in less stress, cognitive fatigue, and reduced hospital stays. Kuo and Sullivan (2001) studied the effect of vegetation on crime in subsidized housing developments in Chicago and found that the more extensive the urban forest, the fewer total crimes reported.
Training arborists to care for Virginia’s urban forests is in line with the mission of the Virginia Community College System to provide higher education and workforce-training programs that meet individual, business, and community needs in the Commonwealth (VCCS, 2001). By offering arboriculturally related programs, community colleges will be fulfilling fifty percent of the principles set forth in the 1999 VCCS Mission Statement:
Tech Prep coordinators will find an arborist-training program to be an outstanding opportunity to help non-college bound students focus on a career while still in high school. Community colleges pride themselves on being nimble enough to rapidly offer new programs and change existing ones to better serve the community. Community colleges routinely make their facilities available for workshops, training, and conferences. If the community knew that its community college sponsored such events, lawmakers, law enforcement agents, city planners, garden clubs, municipal employees, horticulturists, arborists, landscapers, and others with a vested interest in their community’s urban forest would eventually recognize their community colleges as a resource for urban forestry.
Arboricultural professional societies and local tree companies are eager to help start arborist-training programs. The author has found that tree companies are willing to donate equipment, serve as guest speakers, and provide demonstrations.
The distribution of community colleges across Virginia makes them ideal for matching area residents with arboriculture courses unique to that area. For example, students from Virginia Beach will gain much more from a pest management course emphasizing local pests and environmental conditions taught at Tidewater Community College compared to a similar course taught at Virginia Tech. Finding qualified instructors to teach arboriculturally related courses presents more opportunities than challenges. Qualified arborists are located across Virginia and are especially familiar with the trees and environmental conditions for the region served by their community college.
Offering arboriculture programs at community colleges makes good economic and academic sense for the students. Based upon well-attended conferences across Virginia, many practicing arborists desire formal training and coursework but lack the financial resources to take time off from work to attend a four-year institution as a full-time student. Part-time arboriculture programs offered at community colleges will allow this underserved population to attend college part-time.
Community colleges have always played an important role in improving the quality of life in their communities. All communities across Virginia can benefit from a more healthy and sustainable urban ecosystem. Community colleges are now in a position where they can help train people to care for this long neglected natural resource.
At Blue Ridge Community College we will be starting a one-year career study certificate program in arboriculture in Fall 2002. This initial program will consist of four courses: Horticultural Botany (HRT 127), Arboriculture (HRT 259), Plant Pest Management (HRT 207), and Urban Forestry (FOR 265). After this program is established, a one-year certificate program will be developed. In several years, a two-year degree program will follow this certificate program. Discussions will soon begin with Virginia Tech concerning an articulation agreement between BRCC and VA Tech’s horticulture and forestry departments’ four-year degree programs.
We have recently developed several other arboriculturally related programs, including an arborist certification program for existing arborists, as well as two non-credit courses covering general tree care for homeowners. Already this year individuals from the community are beginning to recognize BRCC as a resource for urban forestry. The Shenandoah Chapter of the Native Plant Society started holding meetings on the campus. Bartlett Tree Experts held their annual fall production meeting on the campus, bringing together company arborists from across Virginia and western Pennsylvania.
Students enrolled in this program will be strongly encouraged to actively participate in several professional organizations through on-line discussion groups, simulations, home-study assignments and will be required to join three professional societies. Students in the program will attend one local workshop and will be encouraged to apply for assistance from a variety of sources to attend at least one regional conference.
The author has found a number of local tree companies and suppliers eager to partner with BRCC to promote the program. Just recently, two local tree companies have committed to funding two scholarships for the upcoming year. Nearly every supplier contacted has donated materials and equipment for the program.
The time to act is now. Urban forests are an essential part of Virginia’s communities. There is a shortage of trained arborists to care for these urban forests. Is your college ready to step in and help?
The author welcomes correspondence (e-mail preferred) and will gladly share information and contacts: brmurrj@br.cc.va.us or brmurrj@br.vccs.edu (after June 2002).
American Forests. 1989. Shading Our Cities. G. Moll & S. Ebenreck (Eds.). Washington, D.C.: Island Press.
American Forests. 1999. “Regional Ecosystem Analysis Chesapeake Bay Region and the Baltimore-Washington Corridor: Calculating the Value of Nature.” Final Report: 3/22/99. Sponsored by the USDA Forest Service.
Beattie, J., C. Kollin, & G. Moll. 2000. “Trees Tackle Clean Water Regs.” American Forests 18-19.
Council of Tree & Landscape Appraisers (CTLA). 2000. Guide for Plant Appraisal. 9th edition. Champaign, Illinois: International Society of Arboriculture.
Dombeck, M. 1997. “Urban Natural Resource Stewardship: A Pathway to Ecological Restoration and Social Renewal.” 8th Urban Forestry Conference. Atlanta, GA. September 18, 1997.
Georgia Forest Commission. 2001. Georgia Model Urban Forest Book. Stone Mountain, GA: Georgia Forestry Commission Urban and Community Forestry Program.
Hull, R.D. 2001. VA House of Delegates. Representative from 38th District. Personal Communication (Telephone Conversation). October 8, 2001.
Hull, R. D. & J.M. Scott. 2001a. “House bill No. 2100.” Virginia House of Delegates, Richmond, VA.
Hull, R. D. & J.M. Scott. 2001b. “House Joint Resolution No. 612.” Virginia House of Delegates, Richmond, VA.
International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). 2001. 2001-2002 Membership Directory. Champaign, IL: ISA.
Kuo, F.E. & W.C. Sullivan. 2001. “Environment and Crime in the Inner City: Does Vegetation Reduce Crime?” Environment and Behavior 33(3): 343-367.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LAPWP). 2000. Available http://www.greenla.com/
McPherson, E.G. & J.R. Simpson. 1999. Carbon dioxide reduction through urban forestry: Guidelines for professional and volunteer tree planters. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-171. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Miller, R.W. 1997. Urban Forestry: Planning and Managing Urban Greenspaces. 2nd Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Moll, G. 2001. Vice President, Urban Forest Center, American Forests. Personal Communication. National Urban Forest Conference, Washington, D.C. September 5-8.
Scott, K.I., J.R. Simpson, & E.G. McPherson. 1999. “Effects of Tree Cover on Parking Lot Microclimate and Vehicle Emissions.” Journal of Arboriculture 25(3): 129-142.
USA Today. 1999. “Cities’ Trees Choking, Smothered By Sprawl.” Monday, December 6, 1999:21A.
U. S. Census Bureau. Available http://www.census.gov/ October 29, 2001.
VCCS. 2001. Available http://www.so.cc.va.us/
I wish to acknowledge the generous financial support provided by Virginia Community College System Professional Development Grant for providing release time to develop our one-year career studies certificate program in arboriculture. I also wish to thank Chris Leontie for reviewing this manuscript.
Joseph Murray is Assistant Professor of Biology at Blue Ridge Community College. He is the current director of the Blue Ridge Community College Arboretum, which is home to the largest collection of native and naturalized trees in Virginia. He also serves on a variety of urban forestry related committees, boards, and advisory panels across Virginia.