144 Stevenson et al.: Attitudes Toward Street Tree Programs Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2008. 34(3):144–151. Attitudes of Municipal Officials Toward Street Tree Programs in Pennsylvania, U.S. Tyler R. Stevenson, Henry D. Gerhold, and William F. Elmendorf Abstract. Survey responses from 528 officials in 356 municipalities defined the developmental status of municipal street tree programs and the attitudes of three types of officials: elected chief officials, public works administrators, and municipal solicitors. In sustained programs, which had an ordinance, tree commission, inventory, and management plan, officials had more positive attitudes about trees than in developing programs, which had at least one of these elements, or in communities without a tree program. However, even in the latter, approximately half of the officials believed that benefits of street trees outweigh costs and any disadvantages, and 62% favored starting a tree program. No tree programs exist in 46% of the cities, 82% of the boroughs, and 97% of the townships, so there are many opportunities and also important barriers. Incomplete understanding of the benefits of trees and tree care practices leads to low public support, insufficient funding, and inadequate personnel and equipment. Most officials favor spending some money on trees but regard tree programs as less important than other civic responsibilities. Officials may be persuaded to start or improve tree programs by explaining benefits more fully and how public safety can be improved by proper pruning, inventories that locate dangerous trees, and management plans that arrange to remove them. Furthermore, funding may be alleviated by using volunteers, grants, and available technical advice. Key Words. Attitudes; municipal officials; ordinances; Pennsylvania; street trees; tree commissions; urban and community forestry. A survey was conducted in 2005 to determine what causes mu- nicipal officials in Pennsylvania, U.S. to provide, or to withhold, support for street tree programs (Stevenson 2006). We wanted to know how knowledgeable the municipal officials are and what their attitudes are toward trees and municipal tree programs. The answers might help to explain why so many communities are reluctant to start or improve tree programs and to find more effective ways by which officials could be persuaded to be more supportive. Recent surveys of municipal tree programs in other states have been reported for Illinois (Schroeder et al. 2003), Mississippi (Grado et al. 2006), Missouri (Treiman and Gartner 2004), Or- egon (Ries et al. 2007), and Utah (Kuhns et al. 2005). They provided information mainly about the status and characteristics of tree programs and included some comments about the atti- tudes and knowledge of local officials, but not those of solicitors, who can be influential in preparing tree ordinances. Several studies in Pennsylvania have documented progress in community tree programs since a statewide urban forestry pro- gram began in 1991. Reeder and Gerhold (1993) found that only 28% of cities and boroughs claimed to have tree programs in 1991; 57% of them had a tree commission; and numbers of street trees were declining in 40% of the municipalities. Still et al. (1996) reported on the effectiveness of grants awarded to com- munities during 1991 to 1993 by Pennsylvania’s Bureau of For- estry and the Urban and Community Forestry Council and also the attitudes of community leaders and volunteers. Grant recipi- ents more often viewed tree planting as a means of improving the attractiveness of communities and taking pride in them com- pared with unfunded applicants and nonapplicants who were more concerned about safety hazards and nuisances associated with trees. Still and Gerhold (1997) discovered that trained vol- unteers of four tree organizations in Philadelphia and New York ©2008 International Society of Arboriculture City regarded tree care as more important and satisfying than tree planting in contrast to potential volunteers who expressed a greater interest in planting. Elmendorf et al. (2003) contrasted attitudes of volunteer tree commission members about their re- sponsibilities compared with their actual practices and accom- plishments. Tree ordinances, inventories, management plans, planting, annual inspections, adequate tree care, and removal of hazardous trees all were deemed important by 83% to 100% of survey respondents, but only 29% to 78% of these tasks had been accomplished. The greatest difficulties in completing the prac- tices were in trying to gain support of community officials and citizens, dealing with turnover of officials and commission mem- bers, and time limitations of tree commission volunteers faced with competing interests. The commissioners believed that com- munity leaders and residents did not fully understand the value and benefits of trees, and some had negative attitudes toward trees. METHODS Because municipal officials have a key role in providing support for community tree programs, a survey was conducted to obtain information from three types of officials—elected chief officials, public works administrators, and municipal solicitors—involved in three categories of tree programs defined by the USDA Forest Service: sustained, developing, and undeveloped. The purposes were to: 1. Determine if there are differences in attitudes of the three types of officials toward street tree programs; 2. Define any differences in attitudes among the three catego- ries of programs; and 3. Examine how population size of communities may be re- lated to attitudes.
May 2008
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