Part 1: Costs and Benefits of Urban Tree Canopy

The rise in green building planning and practice has been supported by the variety of benefits benefits they provide. These benefits are now being touted in all facets of community development, from project management firms.....

...to tree removal specialists.

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As we have seen, UTC can measured at various scales. The benefits provided by UTC can also be measured at different scales. First let's take a look at the estimated values for statewide tree canopy. According to its 2011 report on statewide Urban Tree Canopy, IDNR accounts for the following benefits associated with increased UTC:

• Economic Benefits: Improve property values, reduce flooding and stormwater management costs, contribute to increased retail sales, and lower cooling and heating costs.

• Environmental Benefits: Improve air and water quality, reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide, improve stream ecology, provide wildlife habitat, reduce ultraviolet radiation loads, mitigate air pollutants, reduce air and surface temperatures, conserve water, and reduce erosion.

• Social Benefits: Calm traffic, reduce noise, encourage physical activity, create feelings of relaxation and well-being, provide educational and recreational opportunities, and reduce incidence of crime.

The 2011 IDNR study estimated that Indiana’s urban trees:

• Store approximately 9.9 million metric tons of carbon

• Remove 327,000 metric tons of carbon

• Remove 8,620 metric tons of air pollution annually

...for a total economic value of $304 million per year

Using values derived from a 2008 study of street trees in 23 Indiana communities, the IDNR Division of Forestry, Community and Urban Forestry commissioned estimates that street tree benefits total approximately $79 million annually for all 567 of Indiana's communities.

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The Arbor Day Foundation's Tree City USA and Tree Campus USA programs

The Arbor Day Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is making our world cleaner and greener through conservation and education, operates a number of programs which recognize efforts to increase urban tree planting.

Tree City USA community standards

• Municipal Forestry Program

• Comprehensive tree ordinance

• Annual Arbor Day observance

• Consistent annual financial allocation for community forestry

Tree Campus USA school standards

• Campus Tree Advisory Committee

• Campus Tree Care Plan

• Campus Tree Program with Dedicated Annual Expenditures

• Arbor Day Observance

• Service Learning Project

In 2017, Indiana was home to 62 Tree City USA communities and 11 Tree Campus USA schools.

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Sources:

Davey Resource Group. (2011). Assessing and Addressing Indiana Urban Tree Canopy (Rep.). Retrieved from https://www.in.gov/dnr/forestry/files/fo-FinalINUTCSummaryRep.pdf Prepared for Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry Pamela Loucks

IU Center for Urban Policy and the Environment. (n.d.). The Urban Forest Provides Measurable Economic Benefits for Hoosiers. Retrieved from https://www.in.gov/dnr/forestry/files/Fo-INUrbanForestryOverallEconomicBenefitsMeasurableFactSheet2.pdf