Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 43(2): March 2017 Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2017. 43(2):55–71 55 The Economic Value of Tree Preservation in a Weak Land Development Market Region Wendy Kellogg, Brian Mikelbank, Robert Laverne, and Kathryn W. Hexter Abstract. New residential development is most oſten a death sentence for the trees that stand in its way. This behavior might be altered if developers thought there was an economic value to being more selective. Unfortunately, the relationship between tree preservation and new development is not well studied. The purpose of this study was to characterize the economic value gained from the preserva- tion of mature trees during the land development process. The study focused on six counties constituting the greater Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., real estate and land development market. A mixed quantitative and qualitative approach was used. GIS-based data and a series of hedonic models determined the value of tree canopy associated with new home sale prices from 2009 to 2011. Qualitative interviews of development and real estate professionals revealed a nuanced association of value and challenges to tree preservation during the res- idential land development process. Previous methods for estimating the economic value of trees were moved forward through aerial location of trees on parcels using Google Earth™ and the National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) data and through the mixed- method approach. The study provided information to a state-level agency managing the state’s incentive-based smart growth program. Key Words. Cleveland; Economic Value; Ohio; Real Estate; Satellite Imagery; Tree and Canopy Preservation. Recent research, described herein, has explored the value of various open space, greenspace, veg- etative materials, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. One important attribute in areas expe- riencing land urbanization is the preservation of existing mature trees and established tree canopy, and how such practices, beyond their environ- mental and social value, may influence the value of land as it is subdivided and sold. This ques- tion was the focus of a case study of six counties in northeastern Ohio, U.S. In the current case study, researchers sought to understand whether the preservation of trees had influenced land val- ue as compared to land without such trees over a multi-year period, and to understand the per- spective of land developers and home buyers for preservation of mature trees and existing tree can- opy, as these would affect their decision-making. Researchers also sought to improve on previous methods for estimating the economic value of trees (photography from public rights-of-way) by using a combination of quantitative spatial data, exploring the use of Internet and satellite- derived data, and using qualitative data, which consisted of interviews with real estate agents and developers regarding home buyer preferences. CASE STUDY CONTEXT The study area regarded the greater Cleveland region in northeastern Ohio, U.S., an area of sta- ble population shifting from the core county in low-density development patterns into previously forested, field, or working landscapes in the five surrounding counties (Figure 1). The six counties in the study area are differentiated by their his- tory and relative level of urbanization. Cuyahoga County, the center of the study area, contains the City of Cleveland, founded in 1796, and its sub- urbs, built out in the 1920s through the 1990s. The county is virtually all urbanized/suburban- ized today (Bier 2001). Summit County, which contains Akron, Ohio, is predominantly urban and suburban as well. In the last two decades, the counties surrounding Cuyahoga County have ex- perienced increased land development, as people and businesses moved out of Cuyahoga. More ©2017 International Society of Arboriculture
March 2017
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