Tending the Urban Forest

The view from a plane offers a perspective on the extent of Palo Alto’s urban forest coverage. Photo: Matt Ritter

Last year, on my way to the California Urban Forestry Conference, as I was shuttled across town to my rental car, I responded to the driver’s inevitable questions: Where was I going and why? The young driver, a recent business grad, had never heard of urban forestry. I wasn’t surprised.
Trees are the best monuments that a man can erect to his own memory. They speak his praises without flattery, and they are blessings to children yet unborn.
—Lord Orrery
Italian stone pines (Pinus pinea) create a pleasing and sheltering canopy on this street in Santa Barbara. Photo: Jeff Reimer

Most people think of wilderness or national parks when they hear the word forestry. So it is understandably foreign to relate forests with cities. But urban forestry is the practice of managing trees, as a collective population, in urban settings. Trees along streets, in parks, along medians, and even on private property make up the urban forest. ...