Urban Forestry
by Martyn Dibben
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is reprinted without illustrations from LORE magazine, a benefit of museum membership. ©1996 Milwaukee Public Museum, Inc.
The Milwaukee Public Museum's Botany Section has always had a strong community outreach program, providing a variety of information to the public everything from specimen identification, through ecological, environmental or expert advice, to the museums own educational and exhibition programs.
Many agencies and businesses seek lectures or consultation on facts associated with the regions vegetation. University ties offer peer interaction, the opportunity to teach, and students to train in botanical research techniques. Nature center and school liaisons provide plant talks, field experiences, and hands-on workshops for classes, teachers or volunteer naturalists. Appointments to, or memberships in, conservation-minded bodies allow staff to promote land stewardship and the preservation of biodiversity. And Section affiliation with both the Botanical Club of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Mycological Society enables public involvement in seasonal forays and MPMs annual presentations of its spring Wildflower Show and fall Mushroom Fair.
Botany's current role in a two year study of the City of Glendales publicly-owned trees is one example of funded service. Glendale has made great strides in addressing environmental issues including both city beautification and the restoration of natural areas. It has now embarked on street tree improvements and the author is a member of its advisory Urban Forestry Committee. The citys DPW (Department of Public Works) has responsibility for tree upkeep and strives to support activities proposed by this committee. Together, the two have won WI-DNR Bureau of Forestry grants to develop a city tree inventory and forest master plan. A 1993 proposal addressed street trees and established a program of administrative and educational needs. A 1994 follow-up will complete unfinished streets and city-owned trees located on commercial or industrial business sites. These federally-backed forestry grants award 50% of the program costs, enabling urban communities to use either cash or in-kind service as match. Successful applicants may develop management plans, vegetation ordinances, tree inventories, tree planting programs, pest management services, training for employees or volunteers, public information and involvement opportunities, or demonstration education projects.
MPM's Botany Section was contracted by Glendale to organize the collection and computerization of tree data. Residents were notified of the project and potential involvement through various city announcements and environmental displays. Volunteer teams were formed from interested citizens, DPW summer interns, and students from Nicolet High School. A high school environmental science teacher was hired to coordinate the initial summers (June-August, 1993) field activities.
To date the project has analyzed 3,250 tree sites from the more heavily planted of Glendales 156 streets. Volunteers were trained to locate non-private trees, identify tree species, calculate tree heights, measure tree-trunk diameters, convert these to specific tree ages, assess tree vigor and condition, recognize the presence of tree pests, and monitor DPW tree clearance and maintenance problems. The urban forest inventory report sheet shows just what data fields were recorded. Grant-purchased TreeKeeper) Jr. software (Davey Resource Group (CA), 1992) was modified by Botany to accommodate these fields and meet DPW and intended tree research needs. Volunteers were then taught how to input coded data to create the biological and management reports desired from the program.
Forty-five different street trees were identified, of which five are more commonly encountered (Norway Maple, Green Ash, Silver Maple, Honey Locust, and Sugar Maple). Among these, size varied from 1.0 to more than 28.0 inches in diameter, the larger heritage trees being between fifty to seventy-five or more years in age and survivors of an earlier agricultural era. Milwaukee County occurs within North Americas 5B plant hardiness zone. Knowing this, application of appropriate tree condition, location and species factors established by the nations foresters enabled dollar values to be calculated for Glendales urban forest. Close to 935 assorted street trees are equivalent to $1.0 million worth of functioning plant community. And the city probably manages well in excess of $7.5 million worth of standing public timber.
While there is clearly increasing support at state and federal levels for urban forest renewal, successful tree management requires experience. Knowing this, Glendale incorporated staff and volunteer training into its 1993 grant application, sponsoring a one-day municipal workshop on Managing Street Trees at the Milwaukee River Hilton Inn. Twenty-six participants from twelve greater Milwaukee communities attended the May 19, 1993, program taught by Dr. Robert W. Miller, Professor of Urban Forestry at UW-Stevens Point.
Following this program, the Urban Forestry Committee diversified its membership, assuring development of policy and plans that would reflect the entire Glendale community. It then revamped the citys tree ordinance, and helped create a program that enticed area residents and businesses to contribute financially to tree upkeep. With input from Botany, it is now developing forest educational packets for grade school distribution, and an interpretive hiking/biking booklet to locate and explain natural history facts about notable Glendale trees.
Urban forestry plays an important role in city infrastructure today whether it benefits the home owner, community or business enterprise. Tree-lined streets bring neighborhoods together, create attractive outdoor settings, discourage street vandalism, improve established business centers, and restore blighted or older areas. And street trees themselves offer many positives (see side bar).
Once the extent of a forest resource is known, adequately protected by local ordinance, and made part of a master plan, its inherent value becomes easier to champion. Resident awareness and appreciation are then fostered through a desire for a more habitable environment, education about sustainable tree plantings, and direct public involvement in planning city green space. Glendales commitment to improve its forest is as likely to encourage financial support from the private sector as it is citizen action lobbying for expanded city service. In return, residents will receive better information on the forests health, its needs and costs, recommended action plans and tree care. All factors that will embellish the citys application for Tree City USA certification from the National Arbor Day Foundation.
When complete, Glendale's inventory should be available for electronic sharing with that of the City of Milwaukee and those surveys being created by other ring-county agencies or municipalities. Fully computerized, the surveys comprehensive data pool will form a powerful analytical tool. Such a Master Tree Management program incorporates detailed information on individual, street, street block or aldermanic district trees into viable long-range urban forestry planning. Ongoing review by city staff will then determine more practical guidelines for management decisions and the issue of DPW work orders. Besides coordinating site inspections and inventory updates, the TreeKeeper) Jr. software flags all forms of designated plant maintenance and creates paperwork relevant to various claims, notices, permits or costs of service calls. It will also diagnose wiser tree purchase and re-planting designs that will enhance the forests native species diversity.
Future networking among the various forestry programs within the metropolitan area, the pending tree analyses of the Milwaukee County Parks System, and the regional WI-DNR Bureau of Forestry databanks should be possible. From such an amalgamation could develop a regional tree database and master plan for the greater Milwaukee urban forest. But this mammoth block of man-made community woodlands lacks understory and stands in contrast to the few still-natural woodlots left within the Milwaukee area. The latter, remnants with diverse plant populations derived from the native vegetation of pre-settlement times, have already been intensely studied and their species cataloged. MPMs Botany Section is involved with area botanists in the computerization of this data, and could well be willing to participate in the larger urban forestry review as the start of a new century approaches.
A strong relationship has long existed between the Milwaukee Public Museum and those area environmental groups that respect tree preservation, and other communities besides Glendale have expressed interest in pursuing future collaborations. Reports on the current project have appeared in the Glendale Herald (March 24, 1993; September 23, 1993; January 13, 1994; March 3, 1994), Nicolet High School TODAY (October 1993), and a summative paper prepared for the 1993 grant. Student re-involvement this summer will conclude a highly successful high school experiment on exposure to local scientific research. Such has positive meaning for the community, offers a practical solution to gathering needed information, and provides participants with insight into how some aspects of city government work. The Glendale-Nicolet model may well be one that other area urban forest programs might care to emulate.