Journal of Arboriculture 31(5): September 2005 243 WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT FROM THEIR COMMUNITY FORESTS? RESULTS OF A PUBLIC ATTITUDE SURVEY IN MISSOURI, U.S. By Thomas Treiman1 and Justine Gartner2 Abstract. A self-administered survey of randomly selected recipients in 44 Missouri, U.S., communities found that most Missourians were very concerned about the quality of natural resources and having trees on streets and in parks. Respondents felt that Missouri was not doing well at making sure fewer trees are lost during development and at managing stormwater runoff. Residents in communities with a population of 50,000 or more, in the St. Louis and Kansas City suburbs, and in the cities of St. Louis and Kansas City show strong support for a ballot issue establishing a tree fund supported by a tax of US$5 or less. Missourians in communities with a population greater than 5,000 showed support for protecting or replacing trees during development through passage of a tree preservation ordinance. They lack basic knowl- edge of their community’s tree program and could not correctly say whether their community was certified by The National Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA. They are most likely to seek information on trees from their local garden center. The results of the survey, together with recent surveys of community forestry officials and street tree inventories, are used to make recommenda- tions to state agencies charged with managing community forests. Key Words. Missouri, U.S.; public attitude; survey research; tree program; urban and community forestry. The Community Forestry Program, administered by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), is designed to advise, coordinate, and facilitate the efforts made by many jurisdictions and entities that own and affect the state’s community forests. MDC foresters help communities and individuals effectively manage the trees that make up their community or urban forest. Managing these resources can help improve the environmental, social, and economic well being of each community and ultimately the entire state of Missouri. MDC employs seven individuals who are specifically titled urban foresters (in addition, community forestry assistance is provided by all Forestry Division foresters) and annually spends approximately US$440,000 (over and above salaries) in support of the Community Forestry Program. MDC foresters provide assistance to local and regional governments and to individuals, developers, the nursery industry, or anyone with an interest in managing community trees. They also support an annual community forestry cost-share program called Tree Resource Improve- ment and Maintenance (TRIM). Foresters advise on the development of tree care programs, municipal tree ordi- nances, and tree boards, and proper location of new trees. Tree plans are provided for public property such as parks, schools, streets, and building grounds. In order for MDC to provide better and more targeted service to communities and local governments to help them manage their urban forest resource, the agency identified the need for a better understanding of urban forest re- sources, how they are managed, and how they and their management is viewed by Missouri citizens. To this end, MDC has conducted two urban tree inventories on plots in 44 Missouri towns in 1989 and 1999 (Rocca 1992; Gartner et al. 2002). The 1999 survey was one of the first follow-up surveys done by any state. A comparison of data shows significant changes in Missouri’s community forests. Communities have more trees, but their condition declined. Missouri’s urban forests are becoming more diverse (Gartner et al. 2002). The top six tree species constituted 37% of those surveyed in 1999, as compared to 53% found in 1989. The average value of a Missouri street tree in- creased $642, using the Council of Tree & Landscape Appraisers’ formulas (CTLA 1992). Other studies across the nation have also focused on the physical inventory of urban trees (Baker 1993). Nowak et al. (2001), for example, found that urban areas in the United States contain approximately 3.8 billion trees with an average tree canopy cover of 27%. In addition, MDC conducted a mail survey of local government officials responsible for tree planting, care, and maintenance in 602 communities across the state (Treiman and Gartner 2004). Results of this survey indicate that tree activities in most communities are funded primarily from general revenue, making information on creative funding strategies vital to creating sustainable community forestry programs. Most communities were characterized as reactive in caring for their community forest, with the majority budgeting no dollars for tree care activities. Seventy-five percent of the communities surveyed indicated that they do not have a single full-time person employed who spends the majority of his or her time performing tree-related activities. This makes a focused and methodical approach to tree care and the elimination of hazardous trees difficult. It also reinforces the need to provide training on basic topics. Responsibility for tree care rests in a variety of departments, ©2005 International Society of Arboriculture
September 2005
| Title Name |
Pages |
Delete |
Url |
| Empty |
Ai generated response may be inaccurate.
Search Text Block
Page #page_num
#doc_title
Hi $receivername|$receiveremail,
$sendername|$senderemail wrote these comments for you:
$message
$sendername|$senderemail would like for you to view the following digital edition.
Please click on the page below to be directed to the digital edition:
$thumbnail$pagenum
$link$pagenum
Your form submission was a success.
Downloading PDF
Generating your PDF, please wait...
This process might take longer please wait
