Boston Parks And Recreation: Urban Forest Plan: Community Advisory Board (CAB) Workshop #2

Press release from Boston Parks and Recreation:

September 16, 2021

This is workshop one of three for the Community Advisory Board. The workshops will help complete the matrix below. The matrix is one part of how the project is evaluating the condition of Boston's urban forest and how well it's being sustainably managed. This workshop's theme was "the players", where we discussed the human element of urban forestry- who is involved with growing and sustaining the forest, or not? The next workshop will be:

We will be posting summaries after the CAB workshops. To learn more about the Community Advisory Board or how to get involved with the Urban Forest Plan, visit the Urban Forest Plan website.

discuss the human element of urban forestry -- the Players that impact the urban forest. S A 15-minute presentation covered the UFP project as a whole and introduced the main topics - the 9 indicators of a sustainable urban forest related to “The Players.” Unlike the first workshop, where the performance level in each indicator was determined ahead of time based on quantitative data, the topic of this workshop is more qualitative and subjective. The CAB was tasked with deciding and scoring how Boston is doing in each category by individual votes. Vote: 41% low, 53% moderate, 6% good Citizens understand, cooperate, and participate in urban forest management at the neighborhood level. Urban forestry is a neighborhood-scale issue.   Themes from group discussions on current performance levels: There are many concerned citizens, but no unified end goals or plans have been made.  So no one is working toward the same vision amongst  neighborhoods. Each neighborhood has different demographics and character that can play a role in determining their levels of action or engagement. Some households are more worried about putting food on the table, have more time constraints, etc.  Additionally, many neighborhoods are more transient in nature, with more renters than owners.  Typically, renters have little incentive or power to be involved.  Some neighborhoods with lots of college students have parks that are noticeably more polluted and full of litter (vs. neighborhoods with more families). There is a lack of understanding on the value of trees, which impacts the public’s willingness to engage. Generally, there isn’t conversation around trees unless they are causing a problem. Their benefits and value is not advertised (and can be hard to quantify). There is also a lack of general information on how to get and maintain free street trees. On a neighborhood level, there doesn't seem to be an umbrella, no structure for community members and groups to get together.  Would be good to have direction on how we could all come together.  There could be more centralization among community groups.  City does not have any neighborhood-based or targeted programs - appears currently that they just respond  to requests. Often organization efforts and group work at the neighborhood level happens in response to a project (construction, etc.) that would result in removal of mature trees (ex. Sycamore in Roslindale, etc.).  How do we improve? Ensure that trees are recognized within both city-wide and neighborhood initiatives and plans in place. Develop an organizational structure to centralize the work done by community groups. Targeted messaging and action steps educating on the value of trees.  These can be tailored messages for different groups with different constraints. Block leaders could be involved with tree projects on their streets.  Trees are a key piece to beautification programs, and can be incorporated into streetscape and green infrastructure improvements. Demonstration projects can be advertised, and food forests can help to spark initial interests and advertisement of benefits. Free tree planting could be focused on streets that are most in need. Vote: 61% low, 37% moderate, 2% good The general public understands the benefits of trees and advocates for the role and importance of the urban forest. Themes from group discussions on current performance levels: The public doesn’t fully understand the benefits that trees bring to their community, nor their function in the city as a whole. There are many areas of the city that do not have any trees. And people have gotten used to it, not knowing what they’re missing. Trees are overlooked as part of our infrastructure.   Many have more concerns over the damage that trees cause, than knowledge of their benefits. People are not willing to be inconvenienced by maintenance activities such as raking leaves. In addition, those with allergies or other respiratory issues often view trees as detrimental to health. Even when people do understand the benefits of trees, many have bigger concerns to meet, often centered on meeting basic family needs. Example comments: Too much stuff going on. Too many other demands, especially when there is a pandemic and people are focused on basic life things.  There are also competing interests with other city priorities: renewable energy such as solar companies that may suggest cutting trees, bike lanes and other transportation planning, affordable housing projects consuming entire sites, and relief from parking requirements that adds parking to neighborhoods often at the expense of private and street trees. Awareness stretches beyond the general public and into elected officials and high level city staff.  Trees are not recognized (and thus prioritized) as city infrastructure and are often undervalued in comparison to other needs.  How do we improve? Many ideas put forth by the groups on education campaign ideas: City tree ID tags with information on species and age, with scan codes leading to further information on how to be involved, should be increased.   Targeting the Right Residents.  There are those who are "tree people" who are very aware, and there are those who oppose trees are pretty convinced there are strong arguments against them. Presumably there is a group in the middle that we should be targeting for education.  Social media campaigns with targeted audiences and messaging can help broaden our audience.  Engage Youth. Incorporate education on trees into the school curriculum, so that children bring the information back to their parents. Green jobs such as a Tree Corps can also be advertised here, in order to increase knowledge, grow, and professionalize the industry. Public awareness needs to start with the younger generation that are buying homes.  City agencies provide home buying courses. Trees should be incorporated into this. Why they are important, how to care for trees, how to plant, etc.  Ensure language around public awareness is accessible.  Language used should be simple and steer away from being overly complex or using intimidating scientific terminology. Educate the public about local ordinances and zoning code.  Help develop tools and outreach that inform citizens about the laws and processes around development, especially as they relate to trees. Make the connection between respiratory health, heat islands, and other climate change impacts. Education of key benefits (primary ones called out: health benefits, reduction of heat stresses) and the amount of care needed in terms of maintenance, planting location, inspection, watering, etc. will go a long way.  Public Parks should also be primarily heat sanctuaries for those heat emergencies like we had last week. If the priority for parks was shade and cooling relief for Boston residents, this would change the amount of trees on every park. Vote: 65% low, 31% moderate, 4% good Large, private, and institutional landholders embrace citywide goals and objectives through targeted resource management plans. Themes from group discussions on current performance levels: How can landowners be aware of and comply with a plan, effort or goal if there isn’t one? Without a common goal, it is hard to hold landholders accountable to the creation of management plans. In addition, large institutions often do not connect with each other and often have different priorities. Universities care about having an attractive campus for prospective students, while private entities and hospitals do not have the same needs. Many landholders choose to develop their parcels rather than leave green space for trees. Landholders tend to think of trees in terms of decoration before their function as shade and stormwater mitigation.  Parking is always prioritized before trees.    There is a feeling that the development process is often unknown to the public. Many changes occur on privately held land that isn’t protected (beyond larger development projects). The public is often unaware of how to become involved in these discussions.  Additionally, there is an impression that there are no specific goals or regulations for developers to follow, or if there are that they are not enforced. How do we improve? Information on the value of trees for each property is needed, as well as a shift in mindset towards community ownership and stewardship of our trees.  The leadership and funders in many cases do not appear to fully understand the importance of trees and increasing ecological resilience in the City. This is evidenced in lack of effort to hire and support specialized natural resource managers. Better regulations and policy frameworks are needed for development projects. A framework for bringing landholders together for peer discussions on creative solutions would bring better buy in than simply telling them what to do. Provide incentives that can help property owners maintain and plant additional trees (vs. penalties). Large landholders such as universities could do more to plant and maintain trees within their adjacent neighborhoods, as reparations for gentrification and displacement. Vote: 71% low, 27% moderate, 2% good Neighboring communities and regional groups are actively cooperating and interacting to advance the region's stake in the city's urban forest. Themes from group discussions on current performance levels: Some groups have excellent outreach efforts to advertise trees, but this could be coordinated more on a regional level to strengthen the message. Each organization tends to have a different emphasis. Consensus appears to be that a comprehensive City plan is needed to set a broader goal first.  Then coordination can ensue. How do we improve?  There have been groups working to coordinate (BUFF, Speak for the Trees, etc.) with some successes on a smaller scale.  But the City should lead here.  A city-wide plan and initiative is needed first, before we can get anywhere as a region. Multiple ideas were proposed to better coordinate regional efforts: A central entity to help create regional infrastructure to address issues together in all of greater Boston.   Coordinating with watershed groups, interdisciplinary could be important to convey to the public that it’s not just trees, but how they could affect our water quality, etc.. Connect with EJ organizations. Whatever form collaboration takes, it should prioritize and direct resources to the most vulnerable/marital justice communities. There is a major potential for regional collaboration, particularly with data sharing. Many partners (even within Boston city limits) have multiple sets of data that aren’t easily consolidated to look at the broader region.  This could lead to more collaboration overall.  Vote: 48% low, 50% moderate, 2% good The green industry works together to advance citywide urban forest goals and objectives. The city and its partners capitalize on local green industry expertise and innovation. Themes from group discussions on current performance levels:  City projects are led by different industries, and those with tree expertise are not always included early on.  Must work to ensure entities like BPDA and Boston Transportation Department (BTD) are utilizing green industry experts in their projects.  Green industry contractors' work ranges widely in terms of quality. Contractors working here range from good (qualified arborists/landscapers) to bad (fly-by-night).   Green industry workers are limited to whatever the client requests, which can involve removing entire trees or portions of trees.  Landscape architects are often limited in their advocacy due to developer needs, which are usually to maximize their profit.  LEED buildings aren’t necessarily held to any kind of standards around trees, just energy. . While there is not enough currently, people are starting to notice. Increasingly seeing companies that are interested in tree canopy, doing tech-based assessments on canopy (innovation focused).  Many landscape architects and civil engineering groups have embraced green infrastructure design and are working to create details that would enable trees to survive in challenging streetscape environments. In past years we've had sessions to discuss structural soil, suspended sidewalks, and other ways to give street trees a better chance of surviving when space is limited.  There is a lot of interest and energy from tree care companies who are in need of workers. How do we improve? The City can create a list of desirable trees for developers to plant, and create regulations against invasives. Identification of green industry players is needed, as well as resources for them to collaborate on education and outreach. Often climate resilience projects are led by engineers, who might not have the same level of appreciation for trees and the work that they do. How do we educate this group on the importance of tree canopy so they take it in consideration in their projects/work?  It would be much better for the city to require that all developers plant shade trees and require all landscape architects and landscapers to recommend shade trees. Vote: 57% low, 43% moderate, 0% good Local funders are engaged and invested in urban forestry initiatives. Funding is adequate to implement a citywide urban forest management plan. Themes from group discussions on current performance levels: There is a lot of funder engagement in climate change initiatives, but not explicitly with the connection to urban tree canopy.  Grants tend to oversimplify the process and aim towards numbers of trees planted, but are less inclined to quantify and measure other ecological benefits.  There are huge gaps in funding needs.  Maintenance and the nuances of tree care are not often accounted for, and instead focus is put on simply planting trees.  Funders don't always understand maintenance and the nuances of tree care needed over the life of the tree .Corporate funders and private donors like to see 100’s of trees going into the ground but don’t often account for maintenance of those trees. Funders tend to have their own specific interests, and in general there is competition for funding between organizations and between neighborhoods.  Wealthier neighborhoods seem to be able to attract more funding, while needing less tree canopy improvements than neighborhoods of lower economic levels. The Parks Department is in need of funds to hire more staff and increase capacity to care for the trees on streets and in parks. There currently seems to be a lack of concerted commitment w/i the city for a large-scale vision around Tree Equity. How do we improve?  Promoting urban forestry work as efforts to improve public health or address the climate change stresses instead of beautifying neighborhoods may result in more funding for tree canopy efforts.  Increasing publicity on the benefits of trees and related carbon sequestration should garner more support and funding.   Urban forestry appears to be gaining traction and therefore attracting more funding. This is a step in the right direction. Give funders a direction on what is needed to increase the canopy via this UFP.   Promote the long term needs and importance of adequate fundings for maintenance.  Work to ensure funders are taking these needs into account (City included).   Be on the lookout for new funding sources.  One example given: there is a mitigation fund that utilities pay into that can be used for tree planting.   Vote: 78% low, 20% moderate, 2% good All utilities are aware of and vested in the urban forest and cooperates to advance citywide urban forest goals and objectives. Themes from group discussions on current performance levels: Utilities are focused on keeping the power on and people safe, which can mean removing a significant portion of tree canopy, despite the company's awareness of their benefits. Utilities have many staff that work throughout the area.  Some utilities leaders were identified as being very knowledgeable and supportive of tree canopy efforts, while work on the ground doesn’t appear to the public to reflect that same support or knowledge.  There appears to be little pushback on utilities by the City.  Reasons list for this included an underfunded and overworked City staff, another cited potential lack of authority in this area.  Utilities may not be utilizing PR effectively.  For example, after a storm, news coverage highlights utility companies restoring power. While there is a lot of pressure, the public doesn’t hear about energy companies working with trees and caring about management.  It is not clear if utilities are engaged, but they are not talking about it.  As it stands, they appear to be reactionary, not strategic. There are some efforts in place - the sewer department is doing more and more green infrastructure projects, and the power company promotes education (right tree, right place, etc.). Leaks were cited as a major problem in relation to street trees, as well as public health in general.  How do we improve? Improve planting plans and tree lists to ensure trees near utilities are planted where they will thrive best. With additional staff, the City could better inspect plans, projects, and utility work. Gas companies need to offer gas level inspection services before trees are planted, or the City needs more staff to look into gas leaks directly. Many suggested burying overhead wires when possible, ex.when a developer tears down a house to put in condos, etc.   If trees need to be removed, ensure they are  replaced in the community where it was taken (no requirements in place currently) and replaced with an appropriate size replacement tree.   Another suggestion highlighted MBTA, when trees are cleared along their many lines, to require MBTA to replace them elsewhere in the city.  Vote: 89% low, 11% moderate, 0% good The development community is aware of and vested in the urban forest and cooperates to advance citywide urban forest goals and objectives. Themes from group discussions on current performance levels: City does not have clear goals in place to ask any developer to follow. Developers do not appear to understand proper tree care. Planting is often done incorrectly, with lack of root zone protection, planting too deep or too shallow, and volcano mulching. Trees are given less priority over projects such as affordable housing. Developers often favor the money-making option over greenspace that would increase residents’ quality of life.  Developers are more willing to plant a new tree than save an existing mature tree. How do we improve? Create a new ordinance. When BPDA meets with developers they need a section on trees.  Incorporate trees into LEED standards. Enforce City standards. Require a bigger setback to make space for street trees.  Developers discuss trees only after their projects have been approved - there's little attention paid to trees at the start of projects. Incentivize developers (ie. tax incentives) who keep existing mature trees and incorporate greenspace.  Financial incentive for developers to keep trees or add trees (instead of punishment).   Empower neighborhoods to demand better development. Vote: 60% low, 40% moderate, 0% good All city departments and agencies cooperate to advance citywide urban forestry goals and objectives. Themes from group discussions on current performance levels: Common sentiment from public and City employees is that there is a lack of collaboration between both people, departments and plans. Departments are siloed. Departments have differing knowledge on tree benefits, and how they can be incorporated into their mandates.  This includes both within departments between the City and the public. Process and City organization have too many layers to sort through. How do we improve? Increase education amongst City staff to ensure all departments are on the same page.  Multiple city staff agreed that there is a need for agencies to be educated about the role of trees and their role in that. Create a tree protection ordinance with proper planting specifications for all departments to utilize. Increase public-facing information so that all can understand how the City works, and how they can be involved with increasing tree canopy. Continue the effort to cross train and educate on tree and heat issues in a group meeting of representatives from departments ie. UFP’s interdepartmental working group.  

This press release was produced by Boston Parks and Recreation. The views expressed here are the author’s own.