Wisconsin Statewide Urban Forest Assessment: Development and Implementation
File(s)
Date
2007-05Author
Brown, Ian K.
Publisher
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, College of Natural Resources
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The urban forest is an integral part and significant contributor to urban landscapes.
Approximately 80% of the US population interacts with urban forests on a daily basis.
The ecologic, sociologic, and economic benefits provided by urban trees have been
shown to be worth billions of dollars. Urban forestry has been recognized within the
scientific literature for over 30 years. As public education pertaining to the urban forest
continues, it has become clear that a lack of a standardized definition complicates
transmission of the message. This study used a content analysis of 77 scientific and
reference articles to determine the primary constituents comprising definitions of the
urban forest and urban forestry. We discovered that urban forestry definitions created
since the first by Jorgensen are either similar or partial representations of his. Likewise,
definitions of the urban forest created since Moeller have neither added to his or were
partial representations. This study also developed spatial definitions of the urban forest.
A programmatic spatial definition to delineate the areas considered urban by the
Wisconsin DNR Urban and Community forestry program was developed and compared
to areas spatially represented by urban areas in the 2000 census using ESRI Arc 9.1
software. It was determined that the most representative spatial extent at this time
comprised both the 2000 census urban areas and all cities and all villages within
Wisconsin. With the standard urban forest definition and programmatic spatial
representation, this study makes contributions to both the theoretical and application
components of urban forest research.