City Forest Credits

The Yale School of the Environment, Hixon Center for Urban Sustainability, provides a free, online Green City Toolbox. There are a variety of urban forestry resources for cities to use including fact sheets, video interviews, and case studies. Learn more about how to design equitable urban forestry masterplans, implement innovative strategies to increase canopy cover, and more, via the toolkit: https://lnkd.in/gWjKmezM

A recent study published in Ecological Applications found that trees in New York City and Boston are more negatively impacted by heat waves and drought than similar trees in adjacent rural forests. The study highlights the need for thoughtful urban forest management planning, as the effects of climate change continue. Urban forest management plans may include new management protocols maximizing tree planting pits, or selecting species better suited to urban conditions. Learn more about how this research was conducted, and why the findings are important, here: https://lnkd.in/gMYQwbM4

City Forest Credits' partner, Green Cities Accord, recently sold carbon credits to Sven-Saw, a local, environmentally conscious company. REI Co-op is a key retail partner of Sven-Saw, and not only encourages its vendors to think holistically about reducing their environmental impact but helps make it possible. Learn more about this success story, here: https://lnkd.in/gRFRiQEj

Georgia-Alabama Land Trust, Inc. partnered with Nordson Corporation to preserve a high-quality forest in the Atlanta metropolitan region. Learn more about this valuable project, below.

The Inflation Reduction Act provides $1.5 billion for planting and maintaining trees that will reduce temperatures in many American cities. Dan Lambe of Arbor Day Foundation stated “What we’re learning through science and otherwise is that trees are no longer a nice-to-have. They are a critical part of city survival.” Learn more about this initiative, here: https://lnkd.in/gunV2fcp

Scientists are using models to simulate long-term effects of assisted tree migration under different climate change scenarios. Because assisted tree migration is an emerging practice for building resilient forests, USFS scientists working on the study ran a few different models on northern Wisconsin forests: Limited climate change, intermediate climate change, and extreme climate change. Learn more about their findings, here: https://lnkd.in/g-cH9xGE

Clean water starts by protecting forests. Water filtered through forests is much cleaner than water filtered through residential or agricultural land. The Open Space Institute released a report with findings from a 10-year initiative showing that streams and rivers are healthier when forest cover is present. Protecting forests also reduces stormwater capital and annual maintenance costs. The data collected and analyzed as part of this report will allow for more strategic land protection investments. Learn more, here: https://lnkd.in/gA5_mtz3

Did you know that the effects of 1930s redlining practices on urban tree canopy persist today? Formerly redlined urban neighborhoods in the United States still have less tree cover and more impervious ground cover. In some cases, increasing tree cover in these neighborhoods may require building green roofs or removing impervious surfaces to make space for trees. However, when thinking about new and expanding cities today it is important that these spaces are designed with more parks and greenspace. Learn more about this US Forest Service study, here: https://lnkd.in/g3-AuJaw

A recent study published in the Ecological Society of America journal looked at how urban trees vary across the US. The researchers found that trees in parks across the cities they studied are more drought-tolerant than species near homes. Additionally, trees planted in residential lawns were found to have less species diversity, and most of the species were non-native. Given that about 30% of the land area in the U.S. is residential land, it is necessary that people understand the importance of planting diverse, native, and climate adaptable species. Learn more about the study’s findings, here: https://lnkd.in/eTUaRhew

King County, WA is celebrating five years of progress protecting forests. Their carbon program has produced fantastic results, in both urban and rural areas within the County’s jurisdiction. Unlike other carbon offset programs, King County’s program makes it possible for local companies to protect forestland close to home where their employees and their families can explore. Learn more about their carbon program via the press release and video, here: https://lnkd.in/grkQkvSc