88 Hauer et al.: A Volunteer and Partnership Baseline for Municipal Forestry Activity in the U.S. citizens more likely than non-citizens, those in good health more than those in poor health, and more highly educated and higher-income earners than those less educated or of lower income (Wil- son 2012). Lastly, research on the volunteer sector has observed that social context and surround- ing community matters: people with larger social networks volunteer more, including students and those with school associations, and homeown- ers and others more tightly connected to their neighborhood volunteer more than renters or less connected individuals (Wilson 2012). Ethnically diverse areas experience lower volunteer rates. In the urban forestry sector, volunteering one’s time for civic engagement and community bet- terment is not a new concept (Ball 1986; Makra and Andresen 1990; Westphal and Childs 1994; Johnson 1995; Hauer et al. 2017). Historical evi- dence of tree activities to benefit a community by people receiving no compensation goes back many centuries and likely several millennia (Hauer et al. 2017). Lipkis and Lipkis (1990) wrote about the important role that civic engagement plays in urban forestry through the simple act of planting a tree to heal a neighborhood. Similarly, Krasny and Tidball (2015) discuss the practices and impacts of “civic ecology” (actions to steward or restore the environment, such as tree planting, gardening, etc.) by volunteers. Voluntary civic-ecology prac- tices, these authors argue, have benefits not only for ecosystem services, but also to the well-being of people, for encouraging social learning, generat- ing networks and partnerships, and restoring com- munities (Krasny and Tidball 2015). In a recent study on tree-planting volunteerism associated with New York City’s MillionTreesNYC initiative, Fisher et al. (2015) stated that, “There is an implicit claim related to . . . residents’ actions [volunteer- ing to plant trees] that quality of life in cities is, in part dependent upon preservation of the local environment” (p. 3). Fisher et al. (2015) observed that volunteers who planted trees also had high levels of broader civic engagement (with other organizations, at rallies, voting, etc.). Evidently, the reasons for people getting involved with urban for- ests include a variety of social and environmental factors (Nesbitt et al. 2017; Ordóñez et al. 2017). Volunteers may have any of a number of moti- vations for their participation or engagement in ©2018 International Society of Arboriculture urban forestry activities. Participating in local tree-planting and follow-up care involves work- ing with nature and can result in a strong social connection to other participants (Westphal 1993; Austin 2002). The belief that participants are helping the environment is another stronger motivation of volunteer engagement (Bruyere and Rappe 2007). Westphal (1993) discovered that emotional, aesthetic, and psychological val- ues of trees, rather than benefits derived from property values or the cooling effects of trees, motivated volunteer TreeKeeper participants in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. In Toronto, Canada, Con- way (2016) similarly found resident motivations for tree planting were primarily aesthetic rather than for ecosystem services. Regardless of the rea- sons, engagement in urban forestry is more likely when volunteers know, or are educated about, the importance of the topic (Moskell et al. 2010). There are many reasons urban forestry profes- sionals may incorporate volunteers in urban forest activities (Still and Gerhold 1997). Civic engage- ment builds community connections (Lipkis and Lipkis 1990; Portney 2005; Elmendorf 2008; Moskell et al. 2010; Krasny and Tidball 2015). City residents become more satisfied with the outcome of public street trees when the resident planted the street tree compared to residents who had a street tree planted by the city (Sommer et al. 1994). People tend to have a greater sense of pride when involved with stewardship projects (Mincey and Vogt 2014). Volunteers can possibly initiate and/ or complete projects that would otherwise not occur due to a lack of resources (McPherson and Johnson 1988; Bloniarz and Ryan 1996; Miles et al. 1998; Snyder and Omoto 2008; Pincetl 2010; Moskell et al. 2016). Community involvement may also lead to greater tree survival (Sklar and Ames 1985; Mincey and Vogt 2014; Widney et al. 2016). Volunteerism provides participants with a sense of satisfaction, a sense of place within a commu- nity, and results in a better place to live (Still and Gerhold 1997; Snyder and Omoto 2008). Com- munity engagement may also facilitate social recovery following a natural disaster with a tree- planting activity used to memorialize the loss asso- ciated with the storm (Tidball et al. 2010; Krasny and Tidball 2015). Storms (e.g., hurricanes, ice storms, tornadoes) are common events that affect
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