Today, Mayor Michelle Wu announced efforts to strengthen the City of Boston’s tree line to improve livability and public health throughout Boston’s neighborhoods. As part of today’s announcement, Mayor Wu launched a new Forestry Division within the Boston Parks and Recreation Department (BPRD) to expand Boston’s ability to maintain existing and plant new trees. The Forestry Division will increase the City’s tree-related workforce from 5 to 16, with dedicated leadership and resources to plant new trees as well as proactively monitor, maintain, and prune existing trees. existing trees, focusing on under-canopied and environmental justice neighborhoods. This deliberate focus on Boston trees follows the recommendations of the newly released Boston Urban Forest Plan (UFP), an assessment of urban forests in Boston with recommendations to improve the way trees are cared for and ensure that urban forests are available to the entire community.
Mayor Wu made the announcement today at Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum, a nonprofit partner that has gifted the City of Boston 10 new redwood trees — the first such trees to grow in North America in more than in two million years, known as “living fossils” – to be planted in neighborhoods throughout Boston.
“Trees are our best green technology to fight climate change and build healthy, beautiful communities, especially when heat and storms intensify,” it said. Mayor Michelle Wu. “The dedication of staff and resources to our new Forestry Division will empower the City of Boston to strengthen our tree stand throughout the city so that every community can benefit from these treasures. I am very grateful in partnership with the Arboretum to share the wonder of dawn redwoods throughout the city as a connection to our legacy of research, discovery, and global collaboration here in Boston.
“Boston’s trees beautify our communities, create oxygen, and reduce the urban heat island effect while cleaning pollution from our air,” said Reverend Mariama White-Hammond, Chief of Environment, Energy and Open Space. “We know that Boston’s history of disinvestment has led to inequitable access to trees. I am pleased that the City’s new Forestry Division will take proactive steps to correct these injustice by planting and protecting trees and creating good, green jobs.”
“Our new tree division will increase the City’s capacity to plant and care for trees in every neighborhood,” said Ryan Woods, Commissioner of the Boston Parks and Recreation Department. “We are committed to increasing the survival rate of our new plants and supporting the growth and maturation of trees throughout Boston, especially in communities that need more canopy.”
The Forestry Division will include a Director of Urban Forestry, which is currently accepting applications, three arborists, three 3-man maintenance crews, and many support staff. The larger workforce will add to new investments in the City’s FY23 Operating and Capital Budget, which will total about $5.9 million. The additional staff will empower the Parks and Recreation Department to respond more quickly to tree maintenance requests submitted by residents through 311, clearing the maintenance backlog, reducing tree mortality, and focus resources on canopy-less neighborhoods.
The creation of the Forestry Division implements the first recommendation of the newly released Urban Forest Plan, a product of years of extensive engagement driven by the Community Advisory Board. The Urban Forest Plan outlines seven major strategies for managing tree canopy throughout the city:
- Participating in comprehensive, progressive, and proactive urban forestry work in City departments.
- Conduct proactive care and protection of existing trees throughout public and private land, involving a cyclical care program, and a well-defined risk management approach.
- Tree expansion is in line with broader citywide goals of equity, sustainability, public health, and community well-being.
- Develop solutions to create space for trees in Boston, as well as improve the quality of planting sites to allow trees to thrive.
- Improve communication between the many City departments, agencies, non-governmental organizations, and citizen groups that plant and care for trees within Boston.
- Improve access to neighborhood tree data to give local groups the tools to make decisions and improve for their own communities.
- Use and develop local talent to increase workforce opportunities in accordance with the objectives of this urban forest plan.
“As a member of the Equity Council of the Urban Forest Plan, I am part of a group of community members who focus on creating a healthy environment for residents through equal conservation and expansion of the tree stand in Boston,” said. dr. Atyia Martin, Executive Director of Next Leadership Development and Board Chair for Speak for the Trees. “The UFP was created with a community-inspired equity approach that leads in the right direction on the path of justice. I want to thank the Wu administration for facilitating this process and I look forward to their continued swift action to community recommendations will be implemented.
UFP is also included neighborhood-specific strategies for tree planting, preservation, and care. Each neighborhood plan includes local information on canopy and land use trends, priority planting zones, and current physical and environmental conditions. The new Forestry Division will use these neighborhood plans to develop specific planting and maintenance programs throughout Boston’s neighborhoods.
These new tree canopy investments create an opportunity to support biodiversity by planting a variety of tree species throughout our community. The new Division of Forestry will be charged with ensuring that a variety of trees are planted in strategic locations that support species diversity, while increasing resilience to climate change and urban conditions.
Today’s announcement also commits to increasing the City’s forestry workforce. New positions within the Forestry Division include opportunities for individuals who will soon graduate PowerCorpsBOS, a City workforce development program launched in the spring for young people aged 18 to 30 years, funded with $9 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Last week, PowerCorpBOS began training students in many aspects of the wood industry, including tree physiology, soil science, and how to recover trees from cuts and fractures. Students will work with the Boston Housing Authority and UMass Mount Ida Campus to learn valuable tree protection skills, including pruning, trimming, limbing, and bucking.
The tree canopy is a critical part of Boston’s urban infrastructure. A thriving urban forest reduces heat levels while removing pollutants from the air. It also supports water quality and reduces the impact of flooding by holding back large amounts of stormwater during and after rain to reduce flooding. A 2020 studywhich is included in the City Heat Resilience Solutions for Boston report, examined more than 100 cities across the United States and found that redline neighborhoods were on average 5°F warmer in the summer than non-redlined areas. These neighborhoods, which are often low-income, were found to have fewer trees and parks and darker pavement.
The ten Metasequoia glyptostroboides is a species of flowering plant trees – or dawn redwoods – given to the City of Boston in the Arnold Arboretum are among the first of their kind to grow in North America in more than two million years. Thought to have been extinct for millions of years, in the early 1940s, Zhan Wang and Hsen Hsu Hu took samples from a stand of trees in Hubei Province in central China and showed that Metasequoia alive and well. Elmer Merrill, director of the Arnold Arboretum from 1936 to 1946, funded a collecting trip to China to bring seed to Boston. Since the first addition in 1948, the Arboretum has shared seeds with 600 other botanical institutions around the world. Dawn redwoods have been commemorated in the Arnold Arboretum logo since 1995, symbolizing the nonprofit institution’s commitment to international conservation, education and research.
“The dawn redwood symbolizes so much about the Arnold Arboretum, including our deep love of biodiversity, especially the trees and other woody plants of Asia,” said. Ned Friedman, Director of the Arnold Arboretum and Arnold Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University. “Like Boston, which is home to the world’s people, the Arnold Arboretum is home to the world’s plants. Long thought to be extinct, when this species was discovered alive and well in Hubei , the Arnold is the first institution to receive its seeds – which speaks to our deep relationship with botanical partners in China. The Arnold Arboretum is pleased to offer these special trees to be planted throughout the City of Boston.
The Urban Forest Plan is an important part of the City Healthy Places Initiative, which is focused on increasing open space, cooling our neighborhoods, and protecting Bostonians from the effects of climate change. Healthy Places is a collaboration of three City plans including Urban Forest Plan, Heat Resilience Solutions for Bostonand the seven-year update of the City Open Space and Recreation Plan which will be released to the public next year. UFP is an integral part of Ready for the Boston Climatethe City’s initiative to prepare for the near- and long-term impacts of climate change, such as sea level rise, coastal storms, extreme rainfall, and extreme heat.