New York City: Embracing Opportunities for Tree Huggers and Sawmillers

Introduction

Something amazing happened earlier this year. On April 21st, the first ever Urban Forest Plan was released for New York City. The plan is described as “ a comprehensive roadmap to preserve tree canopy, plant more trees, and cultivate an ecosystem of stewardship”. A roadmap with guideposts for goals from “seed to salvage” (Figure 1).

The NYC Urban Forest Plan represents a historic shift in how one of the world’s most complex megacities understands, manages, and invests in trees - providing a unified, long-term strategy to steward the urban forest as critical green infrastructure, public health infrastructure, and community infrastructure. The plan was announced by the Mayor and positions the urban forest as an essential system.