Assessment of the USDA Forest Service Urban & Community Forestry Program

"In response to its legislative mandate, the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council (NUCFAC) requested a review of urban and community forestry programs and organizations and the USDA Forest Service’s Community Forestry Program. The project team of HortScience, Inc. and The Aslan Group were directed to undertake this review and assessment. As detailed in the NUCFAC’s Request for Proposals, the project would have two parts:





Inventory of urban forestry programs



Assessment of the USDA Forest Service National Urban and Community Forestry Program

Six hundred eighty (642) organizations completed the on-line survey and form the core of the nation’s urban and community forestry network. Each of the 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, Samoa and Micronesia were represented in the network. Respondents included government agencies at the city, county, state and national level, for-profit corporations and non-profit organizations operating at each of the levels, universities and other educational institutions. The number of programs and organizations has increased dramatically since the expansion of the Forest Service U&CF program in 1990.

Urban and community forestry organizations identified education as the primary activity. Tree planting and related care and management were also important. There were no large differences in activity over the geographic regions of northeast (Forest Service NE Area), south (Region 8 and the International Institute of Tropical Forestry) and west (Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10). Staffing and long-range planning were identified as the most important obstacles currently faced by the urban and community forestry network. When asked about obstacles that had been overcome for now, respondents noted technical and planning expertise, and volunteer involvement most frequently.

The USDA Forest Service Urban & Community Forestry program operates under the legislative authority provided by the 1978 Cooperative Forest Assistance Act, amended in 1990. The legislation provides the basis of the program’s purposes and general methods of operation. The agency has prepared more detailed description of the program in the U&CF Program Standards (1997, revised 1999). Based on our review, the U&CF Program has responded to the legislative mandate, operates within the Act’s authority and follows its Program Standards.

The USDA Forest Service U&CF program has been critical to the development of the urban and community forestry network. State and local organizations identify funding support and technical assistance as critical to their success. Statistical analysis of the network identified the U&CF program and the International Society of Arboriculture as the two most important members. Research and technology transfer have demonstrated the ecological, environmental and social values associated with urban forests. Investments at the national level have enhanced awareness of the importance of the nation’s urban forests.

The Forest Service Urban & Community Forestry program faces significant challenges in the areas of:





overall accounting procedures particularly those associated with documenting the partner match of federal funds,



accountability associated with program requirements and reporting,



reaching non-traditional and underserved groups,



integrating U&CF with other Forest Service programs notably Forest Service Research and NUCFAC, and



providing national leadership in the field."

This project was supported by the USDA Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program on the recommendation of the National Urban & Community Forestry Advisory Council Challenge Cost-Share Grant No. 01-DG-11052021-217. Findings do not necessarily reflect the view of the USDA Forest Service.

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