At a glance
This project aims to complete the UW Seattle campus tree inventory and develop a comprehensive urban forest management plan.… Read full summary
- Funding received
- 2010-2011
- Large
- Awarded
- $63,670
- Funding partners
-
- Services and Activities Fee (SAF)
This project aims to complete the UW Seattle campus tree inventory and develop a comprehensive urban forest management plan. By updating and expanding the existing data, the project will support better management of the urban canopy, highlight ecosystem benefits, and create a valuable resource for research and education.
The purpose of this project is to complete the tree inventory database for the University of Washington Seattle campus and to develop a comprehensive urban forest management plan. The campus tree data currently available is incomplete and outdated, making management challenging and evaluation of tree resources impossible. The goals are to capture the ecosystem benefits provided by the urban forest, effectively manage the urban canopy, and provide a database resource for future research and educational opportunities.
Kristine Kenney
Project lead
- kkenney@uw.edu
- Affiliation
- Staff
Howard Nakase
Team member
- hmnakase@uw.edu
- Affiliation
- Staff
Define the campus environmental problem that you are attempting to solve:
There has not been a comprehensive assessment of the urban forest on the UW Seattle campus, and the Landscape Grounds Operations office does not have the resources to conduct one. Without the information that such an assessment would provide, the campus arborist and Landscape Grounds Operations team cannot effectively manage the tree collection. Problems resulting from the current lack of information include the following:
- Loss in tree diversity
- Inadequate protection and/or compensation for valuable trees lost to campus construction projects
- Inability to address all hazard trees before they fail
- Insufficient information for students who study campus trees
- Outdated public outreach materials related to the campus landscape
- Inefficient use of funds for piecemeal assessments that are inconsistently conducted for individual building projects
Describe your proposed solution to this problem:
- Conduct a forest resources assessment. Hire a private contractor to assess condition (including hazard assessment), verify location, determine level of significance (according to UW rating system of extraordinary/exemplary/significant established by UW landscape architect, Kristine Kenney), and produce digital photographic records for every tree on campus. Sara Shores, campus arborist, has recently completed a tree inventory database with associated GIS mapping for all trees on campus. This inventory would be used as a guide and would considerably reduce the amount and cost of labor that would otherwise be necessary.
- Develop a strategic plan for management of the UW urban forest. Use information obtained through the assessment to plan for increasing overall canopy cover, promoting safety, improving air and water quality, building diversity of species, and developing greater aesthetic and educational value.
- Create/Update educational outreach opportunities directly related to trees on campus. Develop student capstone projects surrounding the forest resources assessment and the development of the strategic plan. Update the Brockman Tree Tour by replacing signage with improved materials that allow for modifications such as tree growth, updated cultural references, and the addition or removal of trees from the tour. Develop web resources for public outreach that would include information and mapping for native trees, memorial trees, and extraordinary/exemplary/significant trees on campus.
What form and amount of student leadership will your project involve?
Professional leadership will rest primarily with staff, who will design and manage multiple opportunities for student involvement:
- Students can be directly involved by assisting with the forest resources assessment and the strategic plan – through capstone projects, internships for credit, or work study positions.
- Students in the College of Forest Resources are involved regularly in the Brockman Tree Tour, both as tour guides and tour participants. Students could be involved in the updating of materials for this tour as well as the development of tour materials for the native trees, memorial trees, and extraordinary/exemplary/significant trees on campus.
What type and amount of outreach and education will your project involve?
- Students would have access to a data set that did not previously exist which could be used to research the contributions of the urban forest on the UW Seattle campus related to carbon sequestration, energy savings, and the mitigation of air pollution and stormwater management. The outreach resulting from such research would almost certainly involve public presentations locally and at professional conferences.
- The improved information would be useful for courses within the College of the Environment and the College of Built Environments, some of which focus on tree identification, landscape design, and landscape plant science and sustainable management.
- An improved website presence would provide public access to campus landscape information for students and members of the public with professional and personal interest in trees.
- Tours and tour brochures would provide an outreach opportunity to communicate the significance of the tree collection on the UW Seattle campus and the importance of preserving and protecting that collection. Students could conduct theses tours as part of their education.
What amount of funds do you anticipate your project will require from the CSF?
- Hazard Tree Assessment-$20,000
- Management Plan-6 month intern-$5,000
- Condition/Location Rating-$20,000
- Tree Designation-$1,000
- Inventory Data Update-8 month intern-$12,960
- Brockman Tree Tour -New signs, brochures, updated website $3,350
- Fundraising Supplies -$300
- Native Tree Tour Supplies and Brochures -$300
- UW Tree Calendar-Photography Class? Photography and Supplies- $750
- Memorial Tree Website Supplies- $100
Request amount and budget
Problem statement
The urban tree management plan will be a tool that facilitates increased sustainable management of the trees on campus. Ecological/environmental services (such as carbon sequestration, biodiversity, reduction of energy use, etc) provided by the trees will be quantified. A benchmark of the current status of the urban forest will inform specific management goals. Areas of preservation importance as well as potential improvement to the urban forest will be identified by parameters such as canopy cover and biodiversity. According to the US Forest Service Center for Urban Forest Research (http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/cufr/), urban trees provide the following ecologic and economic benefits:
- reduced energy use by shading and insulating areas around buildings
- improve air quality and sequester carbon by filtering air borne pollutants and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
- improve water quality and reduce flooding by intercepting rainfall and reducing stormwater runoff and erosion
Measure the impacts
Data gathered from this project will provide a benchmark of these impacts as the urban forest now functions. One of the goals of the management plan will be to sustain and increase the quantifiable impacts. These will be measured by maintaining the database of tree information and utilizing iTree software for impact analysis. Kava Vale, a graduate student in the School of Forest Resources, is already leading this effort. iTree is a tool that aids in calculation of urban forest canopy cover, diversity and structure, as well as measurements of its environmental value in terms of carbon sequestration, air quality improvement, energy savings, and stormwater reduction runoff among other parameters.
The management plan will identify impact goals. Data gathered through this project will provide a benchmark of current impacts and will be used to set future goals. Current trends in the urban forest, such as reduction of tree canopy, will be compared to future trends. Data gathered and the subsequent management plan will be shared and used by a number of campus departments, including Facility Services, Capital Projects, and academics. The data and the plan will also be important for streamlining regulatory procedures related to the management of the urban forest on campus.
Education and outreach goals
Our outreach goals are to raise awareness on campus and in the greater community of the tree resources on campus and efforts to sustainably manage these resources. We expect that there will be positive publicity surrounding these efforts. Tracking publicity will be one way of evaluating the extent and manner in which we are reaching an audience.
Student involvement in the entire process will be a form of outreach that we expect to spread beyond the participants as they share their experiences with other students and members of the greater community.
Much of the information resulting from this project will be available through interactive websites. Measuring visitation to the Brockman Tree Tour, Native Tree Tour and tree information websites will be one way of evaluating the extent to which we reach an audience.
- We will update the University of Washington, Facilities Services, Grounds Operations and Capital Projects Office websites with information about the project and will submit content for the Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability website.
- We will contact campus media such as The Daily, UW Today & Weekly and UWTV.
- We will also notify a diverse group of University departments that will impact the greatest number of students (i.e. ASUW, SAO), so that they can share information about student opportunities through their list serves and newsletters.
- We also have the resources to hang banners around campus that will identify, educate and publicize this project that is being supported by the Campus Sustainability Fund.
- Staff and volunteers that are in the field will wear clothing that will identify whom they are associated with and what they are doing around the University campus for the next 3 to 6 months.
Student involvement
Project involvement will largely target students from the College of the Environment. Once funding approval has been established, we will coordinate with Professors David Ford and Gordon Bradley for potential curriculum involvement or internship establishment. We expect that 60% of the work will be performed by students, with a combination of both graduates and undergraduates. Tree Solutions professional arborists and UW staff will provide training to students who will be involved in all stages of the project. Specifically:
- Students will be part of an advisory committee charged with establishing the goals and vision for the urban forest, review of the management plan, and establishing policies.
- Students will be involved in data collection, analysis and report development through dedicated student intern positions that will be advertised through the appropriate departments.
- Students will participate in updates/development of tree tours and other outreach information in collaboration with UW staff.
- The dataset provided by this project will also be available for students interested in studying trees on campus.