| Urban Forests
Protection will provide these benefits:
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Improved air quality in urban areas
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Reduced heating and cooling costs because of increased shade and wind breaks
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Scenic beauty in urban areas
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Homes for wildlife in urban areas
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Water quality protection from forests along urban streams
Priority Areas for Protection:
Urban forests in the 23 counties required by the US Environmental Protection Agency to reduce ground-level ozone and very small particulate matter suspended in the air (PM 2.5).
Protection Techniques:
Planting and caring for street trees, protecting buffers of vegetation along streams, requiring trees in parking lots, and increasing building density within cities so that surrounding land can be maintained in a natural state.
Five-Year Goal:
American Forests recommends that communities east of the Mississippi maintain overall tree canopies of 40% or more by establishing tree cover of at least 50% in suburban residential areas; of at least 25% in urban residential areas; and of at least 15% in central business districts.
Funding Needed:
Over five years, $2 million for inventories of tree canopy coverage and $15 million for matching grants ($3.4 million per year).
The NC Division of Forest Resources administers a federal program which makes small grants to communities for urban forestry and tree planting. In 2005, that program distributed approximately $300,000 in grants. This funding would allow the Division to work with counties and cities to inventory their urban forests and develop plans for how to enhance them. It would then provide ten times the currently available funding to help counties and cities implement those plans.
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