146 ment plan (58%) is less likely to be known by the officials than by the extension foresters, who generally work more closely with tree commissions than with officials. Inventories and manage- ment plans typically are prepared by tree commissions, often without the involvement or knowledge of municipal officials. To the extent that the knowledge of officials was imperfect, inaccuracies would have resulted in the reported percentages of tree program elements. Evidence was indeed found that some municipal officials have incomplete knowledge about tree pro- grams in their communities. In each of 41 cases among the 145 municipalities that returned responses from two or three offi- cials, there were discrepancies among them or inconsistencies with the four classification benchmarks. Furthermore, differ- ences appeared among the three types of officials in the reported existence of program elements (Table 2), which is also an indi- cation that knowledge about their tree programs may be incom- plete or not fully understood. The reported existence of bench- mark elements in undeveloped programs may indicate that the extension urban foresters were not aware of some developing programs or that their perceptions differed from those of mu- nicipal officials as to how functional an element was or the timeframe when it was effective. The reported existence of a tree ordinance in 35% of the sample of 26 cities, 789 boroughs, and 1,504 townships, which were classified as undeveloped, also raises the question whether some of them should be reclassified as developing. Presumably that could affect approximately nine cities and 276 boroughs but less than 525 townships because most of them are rural. Classi- fications were not changed in this study, however, because the knowledge of the extension urban foresters was considered as reliable, whereas the survey responses were subject to various interpretations. Prevalence of Program Elements Although the percentages stating the existence of tree program elements may be somewhat flawed, the relationships among the three types of programs are worth noting. Clearly, there were substantial differences in the reported existence of all eight pro- gram elements (Table 1). Five of the elements occurred more commonly in larger municipalities (Table 3). Frequencies of all elements were reported to be higher in sustained programs than in developing programs, which in turn were higher than in un- developed programs. Developing programs reported that 68% had tree commissions, 59% had a tree ordinance, 32% had an inventory, and 27% had a management plan. However, it is encouraging, although unexpected, that 35% of respondents from communities defined as having no tree pro- gram reported having a tree ordinance and 29% a tree commis- Elected official Stevenson et al.: Attitudes Toward Street Tree Programs sion or committee. Even if the percentages are inexact, they suggest that many of the municipalities could be encouraged to progress to the developing or sustained stage. In fact, 25% to 41% of respondents from undeveloped programs indicated it is likely that an ordinance, tree committee, inventory, or manage- ment plan would be completed in the next 3 years (Table 1). The likelihood did not vary much with population size (Table 3), so many of the 26 cities and 789 boroughs that are not known to have tree programs present a great opportunity for progress; most of the 1,504 townships are rural, however, and those com- monly have little interest in a tree program. The calculated percentages of officials who thought it was likely that tree program elements would be added (Table 1) probably are more reliable than the existence percentages, be- cause they depend more on the realistic opinions of officials rather than knowledge about their tree programs. In all three types of programs, there was more than a minimal interest in developing inventories and management plans, 34% to 44% in developing and undeveloped programs. Sustained programs should already have these elements, so the reported likely addi- tions probably indicate the updating of inventories and revisions of management plans. Public works directors seemed to take a particular interest in management plans (Table 2). Ordinances and tree commissions scored high among undeveloped pro- grams, which is logical because these are often the first and most important elements when tree programs are initiated. The like- lihood of achieving a $2 per capita budget (15% to 19%) was lower than any other program element, except for the use of ISA Certified Arborists in undeveloped programs (13%). Attitudes Toward Municipal Street Trees Attitudes of officials can be expected to influence their actions toward starting or improving municipal tree programs. Most of- ficials (79%), irrespective of type of official, type of program, or population size, agreed that street trees are important in making a community a desirable place to live. The strongest differences in attitudes toward benefits and costs of street trees were asso- ciated with the three types of programs (Table 4), more than with types of officials or population sizes. Favorable responses from sustained programs to questions about benefits exceeding costs of tree maintenance or any problems trees may cause, and the need for ordinances, inspections, and budgetary support, ranged from 61% to 76%. Responses from developing programs were somewhat lower, from 45% to 68%. Even in undeveloped pro- grams, favorable attitudes ranged from 39% for budget support to 58% for an ordinance regulating maintenance and removals. Officials in all types of programs recognized some need for better information about benefits of trees, especially in undevel- Table 2. Tree program elements reported by three types of officials and likelihood of adding elements within 3 years.z Program element Public works Ordinance* Management plan* Budget greater than $2 per capita* ISA Certified Arborist* Number of respondents Percentages reported by respondents. *Significant differences among types of officials at 0.05 level. Differences among other elements were not significant. z ©2008 International Society of Arboriculture Exists 57 37 23 30 159–164 Likely 20 36 16 20 Exists 64 28 26 21 221–230 Likely 19 43 18 19 Exists 51 27 10 13 91–96 Solicitor Likely 17 32 15 17
May 2008
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