Feasibility Study: The Urban Forest as a Biogenic Utility

This technology transfer explains the benefits of urban forests in Kent, OH.

The importance of the urban forest in the City of Kent is more than the amenity value of the trees. While the trees provide important amenity values, such as shade, screening, and landscape ornamentation, they also perform the following beneficial functions that can be translated into economic value:

•Removal of air pollutants, including ozone (03), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide(NO2), and particulate matter less than 10 microns(PM10)

•Decrease in energy costs (e.g., shading and cooling effects of trees)

•Stormwater mitigation

•Carbon storage and sequestration

•Increase in property value

•Sociological and psychological values

This project focused primarily on the environmental benefits of trees. The important sociological and psychological values, while documented in the literature, have not yet been modeled to accurately estimate economic value. Environmental functions of the urban forest can be estimated using field sampling techniques and mathematical models developed over the past two decades by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service research scientists. The science behind these models is sound and has been published in peer-reviewed journals. The challenge now is to apply the science to enhance the quality of life in our cities by improving the condition and extent of our urban forests.

This feasibility study explores the possibility of calculating the economic value of the beneficial functions trees perform and devising a funding mechanism to pay for these functions. The income generated would be used to manage and enhance the urban forest to meet goals of increased canopy cover within the City; thus, enhancing the quality of life of the residents. The rationale is that urban forests require planning, management, and oversight; they are not self-sustaining like natural forests.

Urban forests require maintenance, such as pruning, plant health care, and removal of individuals that pose a threat to public health and safety. In addition, tree preservation and conservation efforts are essential tools for a community to ensure important trees and components of the urban forest are not destroyed without mitigation. Tree planting is also a critical component of long-term urban forestry management and requires careful planning and strategizing to maximize the benefits needed for a healthy city environment.

Another way to explain this notion is to view the urban forest as a biogenic municipal utility that provides important functions, such as removing air pollutants, mitigating stormwater runoff, and sequestering carbon dioxide, a key component of greenhouse gases causing global warming. As with other municipal utilities (e.g., drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and electricity), it can be argued that users need to support, or pay for, the functions of the urban forest in order to keep the system—the trees—sustainable and working properly. Enhancement and continual improvement of the urban canopy over time is not only desirable for aesthetic reasons, it is critical to long-term public health and well-being.

Viewing the urban forest in this new way requires a paradigm shift—a fundamental change in approach or assumptions. It changes the way we currently view trees in our cities and communities. Shifting from viewing urban trees as an amenity to viewing them as biogenic units that perform important biological and ecological functions will result in a cleaner and healthier environment for city residents and visitors.

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