These guidelines - intended for a global audience of decision-makers, civil servants, policy advisors and other stakeholders - promote urban and peri-urban forests as a way of meeting the needs of cities for environmental services. They will also raise community awareness on the positive contributions that urban and peri-urban forests can make to city life and their essential role in global sustainability.

Urban forests are fundamental to the health and sustainability of urban communities. In 2012, the U.S. Forest Service launched the Vibrant Cities, Urban Forests: A National Call to Action initiative which posed a variety of recommendations to advance urban forest management and programs throughout the country. In response to that initiative, the Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Regional Urban Forestry Strategy was created. Under the Strategy, project partners are focused on fostering regional collaboration around trees and expanding the management capacity of the urban forest by completing a variety of objectives such as needs assessment survey, stakeholder workshops, and local projects focused on the health of the urban forest as a whole. As part of the Strategy, a needs assessment survey was sent to 350 community officials and program managers in the 30 cities and four counties in the Portland-Vancouver region to identify current trends in urban forestry attitudes and practices. Results indicated that, in general, urban forestry programs were important to community officials and program managers alike with both expressing an avid interest in implementing and expanding tree programs. Program components relating to tree health were regarded as the most important items to an urban forestry program by respondents; however, management components such as a certified arborist, a tree board, and an urban forest management plan were considered least important, and respondents indicated that their jurisdictions had been least successful in achieving these items. Difficulty exists in implementing or expanding programs in the Portland-Vancouver region due to inadequate funding and lack of political and public support, but respondents indicated that increased community education and the creation or revision of urban forest management plans and tree related ordinances were priorities for their jurisdictions. Survey results will serve to inform the development of the Regional Urban Forestry Strategy and contribute to professional knowledge and urban forestry activities occurring in the region. In addition, this research provides interesting insight into attitudes and practices surrounding urban forest management which are applicable to federal, state, and local programs. These programs can use the results of this study to re-examine current areas of focus to better direct resources and assistance to those areas of need in the Portland-Vancouver Region. Although many challenges to increasing the management capacity of the urban forest in the study area were identified by this research, additional opportunities to improve the livability of this urban ecosystem were recognized. By advancing current and future urban forestry efforts in the region, this research aims to help local jurisdictions achieve successful urban forestry programs that increase the health of our urban forests while reaping the ecosystem benefits trees provide.

Fully updated and greatly enhanced, the Third Edition of Urban Forestry addresses current issues in planning, establishing, and managing trees, forests, and other elements of nature in urban and community ecosystems. The authors discuss why we have trees in cities and how we use them, clarify the appraisal and inventory of urban vegetation, and extensively delve into the planning and management of public as well as private vegetation. As urban forestry continues to evolve as a profession, foresters and arborists can expect many challenges as well as opportunities. The continuing development of cities has become linked to a much greater emphasis on urban vegetation, the growing demand for recreation amenities within the urban environment, and the careful and successful management of vegetation in an urban ecosystem. New ways to incorporate the highly versatile urban forest resource into the urban fabric will undoubtedly benefit the lives of its residents.

The solution is far more complex than planting more trees, however. Urban forestry professionals and advocates must maximize green infrastructure (the natural environment) while reducing the costs of gray infrastructure (the built environment). While both are important, communities that foster green infrastructure are more livable, produce fewer pollutants, and are most cost-effective to operate.

The urban forest is a diverse and dynamic resource that is inextricably linked to the surrounding community. A comprehensive urban forest management plan helps communities create a shared vision and develop a set of goals and actions that serve as a municipality's guide for management. Using content analysis and an evaluative framework, this study examined the comprehensiveness of 39 urban forest management plans in Washington State. Nearly all plans address the management of trees, but few plans specifically address the community's role in urban forest management. Public participation in the plan writing process significantly influenced the overall comprehensiveness of the plans, supporting the claim that urban forest management should be an inclusive, community-wide process. Most Washington plans lack detailed implementation guidelines and nearly all plans lack a written strategy for monitoring and measuring performance. Plan content varies depending on municipalities' unique management objectives, suggesting that a one-size-fits-all approach is not appropriate in the development of an urban forest management plan. However, the results suggest that an adaptable framework and set of criteria would be useful to municipalities as they plan for managing this diverse and complex resource.

The Urban Forest Master Plan is a document that will guide urban forestry in East Palo Alto to maximize long-term climate, biodiversity and health benefits for the community and to ensure that urban forest management aligns with the City's strategic goals. This plan highlights existing needs and resources and presents recommendations to work toward a shared vision for a robust and equitable urban forest over the next 40 years. It includes an assessment of the current status of the city's urban forest, including tree canopy cover distribution and current management practices. The plan provides guidance for tree planting and management, drawing heavily from community input and scientific analysis. As part of addressing historical inequities in tree canopy distribution both within and between cities, the plan prioritizes planting to ensure that the urban forest's benefits are shared equitably by all the city's residents. It seeks to anticipate future challenges including those associated with development pressure and climate change to build an urban forest that will be sustainable, equitable, and resilient.