Programs designed to care for urban forests

SANTA CLARA, Washington County — Towering sycamores planted decades ago line this city's main thoroughfare, providing a sheltering canopy for pioneer-era structures and modest bungalows.

This "urban forest" is now being cared for under a program that is the first of its kind in southern Utah — a "Community Forest Management Plan" that joins the efforts of the city with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.

Formal adoption of the plan happened earlier this month and followed an inventory of the city's tree population and the establishment of a municipal tree nursery. In addition, a $5,000 grant awarded by the division will help to restore and improve the community's arboretum.

"Nationally, we have seen a lot of states doing a good job of managing urban forests, but in the West it is just starting to catch on," said Kelly Washburn, an urban forester with the division.

Santa Clara, she added, has a "significant" urban forestry canopy, dominated by large, mature trees.

"It is particularly known for its main thoroughfare, which is lined with American sycamore trees that are quite old and are just beautiful."

The inventory documented publicly-owned trees in places like parks, parking strips, on municipal property and open spaces.

"The program has three overarching goals," Washburn said. "First, we want to care for and conserve our existing trees and the tree environment in Santa Clara and we want to prepare and enhance Santa Clara's forest for the future. We can do that by planting trees and developing areas that could have trees."

All this adds to a city's "green infrastructure" and works to make the community more livable, Washburn said.

"Trees promote walkable neighborhoods, help in the reduction of crime, lower levels of stress and add to a community's beauty," she said.

Washburn said the division wants to work with communities across the state to develop community forestry programs and conduct tree inventories.

In Farmington, the city's GIS specialist, Matt McCullough, spent six months completing an exhaustive inventory of its trees.

And while anyone familiar with Farmington is aware of its healthy population of trees — the sycamore is the city's emblem — even McCullough was surprised when the final inventory came in at 1,500 city-maintained trees.