Even as the FY18 federal budget picture for UCF is unclear, President Trump’s FY19 proposed budget zeroes out urban and community forestry. We who treasure this world of endeavor–urban forestry–are charged with communicating its value (economic and intangible) to our legislators, and to do so year-round. We can educate our legislators at every level–town, village, city, county, and state–about the myriad ecosystem benefits of well-cared-for urban forests. Doing so will help keep our local funding strong and mitigate against funding threats at the national level. Our calls, visits, and letters to the editors matter.
For many legislators, the concept of urban forestry is still new. In 2016, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown’s wife Connie Schultz gave him a copy of Jill Jonnes’s heralded book, Urban Forests: A Natural History of Trees and People in the American Cityscape, for his 64th birthday. It was one of Brown’s top three reads in 2016; in a meeting with UFC advocates, he said he loved the book and now “gets it” about the value of urban forests in our nation. If you can afford to, consider sending or taking a copy to one of your legislators! You could include a note about what the urban forest means to you, as well as information about the economic value of city forests.
Here is the statement from American Forests in which the organization responds to the FY 19 proposed federal budget.
And here is the statement from the National Association of State Foresters.