Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 42(2): March 2016 an annual budget of at least USD $2 per capita; and 4) observing Arbor Day annually (Rosenow and Yager 2007; Arbor Day Foundation 2014). These standards enable communities of all sizes to participate in the TCUSA program. Approxi- mately 3,400 communities participate in TCUSA, and over 135 million people reside in TCUSA communities (Arbor Day Foundation 2014). The Arbor Day Foundation cites many benefits for communities participating in the TCUSA pro- gram (Rosenow and Yager 2007; Arbor Day Foun- dation 2014). For instance, TCUSA participation can promote citizen education and engagement, improve public image, and attract businesses and tourists (Rosenow and Yager 2007; Arbor Day Foundation 2014). From a management perspec- tive, meeting the TCUSA standards provides a framework for participating communities to man- age their forest resources effectively, and TCUSA communities are more likely to receive forestry grants and emergency funding (Rosenow and Yager 2007; Arbor Day Foundation 2014). Finally, prioritizing urban trees yields environmental benefits, such as reduced stormwater runoff and moderation of urban temperatures (Rosenow and Yager 2007). Berland and Hopton (2014) found evidence that TCUSA communities enjoy sub- stantially higher reductions in modeled stormwa- ter runoff from street trees than non-participants in the same region. On the other hand, Heynen and Lindsey (2003) did not observe a relationship between tree canopy cover and TCUSA partici- pation, but they speculated that TCUSA partici- pation may serve an important educational role and promote increases in canopy cover over time. Although the realized benefits of TCUSA par- ticipation have received relatively little atten- tion in the literature, continued participation by communities nationwide suggests they are experiencing positive impacts in terms of citi- zen engagement and public image, a framework for urban forest management, and/or environ- mental outcomes. Understanding the geographic distribution and socioeconomic characteristics of TCUSA participants is a first step to under- standing potentially unequal distributions of TCUSA benefits, as well as the motivating factors and barriers to participation. In this vein, limited research has been conducted at the state level. In 121 Maryland, U.S., more populous communities were more likely to participate in TCUSA, but partici- pation was not related to demographic character- istics (Galvin and Bleil 2004). Similarly, Ries et al. (2007) noted that smaller communities in Oregon, U.S., were less aware of the TCUSA program. While TCUSA participation has been analyzed for select individual states, national patterns have not been studied in depth. A national assess- ment of TCUSA participation was conducted to understand whether program participation varies according to geographic region, community size, or characteristics of the population. Assuming the TCUSA program offers benefits for par- ticipating municipalities, this assessment offers insight into the types of communities that are disproportionately more or less likely to enjoy the advantages of participation. In this study, the authors addressed the following questions: • Do TCUSA participation rates vary among U.S. regions? • Do TCUSA participation rates vary accord- ing to community population? • Is the duration of TCUSA participation related to community population? • Are communities more likely to participate in TCUSA if their neighbors participate? • Are TCUSA participation rates related to community characteristics, including income, education, housing tenure, race, and age of residents? MATERIALS AND METHODS Data Collection and Preparation Researchers generated a list of TCUSA partici- pants from the Arbor Day Foundation’s (2014) online directory. The directory was updated in April 2014, and the authors assumed that any changes in program participation from month- to-month had minimal impact on the findings of the study. To compare characteristics of par- ticipant and non-participant communities, a full set of so-called candidate communities, or those U.S. communities that could reasonably opt to participate in TCUSA based on community type and population, were developed. Candidate com- munities were identified in all fiſty states, using 2012 American Community Survey (ACS) five- ©2016 International Society of Arboriculture
March 2016
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