Urban forests are fundamental to the health and sustainability of urban communities. In 2012, the U.S. Forest Service launched the Vibrant Cities, Urban Forests: A National Call to Action initiative which posed a variety of recommendations to advance urban forest management and programs throughout the country. In response to that initiative, the Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Regional Urban Forestry Strategy was created. Under the Strategy, project partners are focused on fostering regional collaboration around trees and expanding the management capacity of the urban forest by completing a variety of objectives such as needs assessment survey, stakeholder workshops, and local projects focused on the health of the urban forest as a whole. As part of the Strategy, a needs assessment survey was sent to 350 community officials and program managers in the 30 cities and four counties in the Portland-Vancouver region to identify current trends in urban forestry attitudes and practices. Results indicated that, in general, urban forestry programs were important to community officials and program managers alike with both expressing an avid interest in implementing and expanding tree programs. Program components relating to tree health were regarded as the most important items to an urban forestry program by respondents; however, management components such as a certified arborist, a tree board, and an urban forest management plan were considered least important, and respondents indicated that their jurisdictions had been least successful in achieving these items. Difficulty exists in implementing or expanding programs in the Portland-Vancouver region due to inadequate funding and lack of political and public support, but respondents indicated that increased community education and the creation or revision of urban forest management plans and tree related ordinances were priorities for their jurisdictions. Survey results will serve to inform the development of the Regional Urban Forestry Strategy and contribute to professional knowledge and urban forestry activities occurring in the region. In addition, this research provides interesting insight into attitudes and practices surrounding urban forest management which are applicable to federal, state, and local programs. These programs can use the results of this study to re-examine current areas of focus to better direct resources and assistance to those areas of need in the Portland-Vancouver Region. Although many challenges to increasing the management capacity of the urban forest in the study area were identified by this research, additional opportunities to improve the livability of this urban ecosystem were recognized. By advancing current and future urban forestry efforts in the region, this research aims to help local jurisdictions achieve successful urban forestry programs that increase the health of our urban forests while reaping the ecosystem benefits trees provide.

Much of the ecological research in the past decades has focused on rural or wilderness areas. Today, however, ecological research has been taking place in our cities, where our everyday decisions can have profound effects on our environment. This research, or urban ecology, includes an important element, trees. Trees have had a variety of environmental benefits for our environment including the sequestering carbon, reducing urban heat island effects, providing vital habitat for wildlife, and making nature accessible. These benefits have important impacts on the physical, socio-economic, and mental health of humans as well. Being exposed to trees has been shown to enhance social cohesion, improve health and recreational opportunities, and increase real estate values. In order to gain more knowledge into this urban forestry, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) held a workshop February 25-26, 2013. The workshop brought together more than 100 people with various interests in urban forestry research to share information and perspectives, foster communication across specific areas of ecosystem service research, and consider integrated approaches that cut across these realms. The workshop specifically examined current capabilities to characterize and quantify the benefits, key gaps in our understanding, the challenges of planning urban forests in a way that optimizes multiple ecosystem services and more. Urban Forestry: Toward an Ecosystem Services Research Agenda: A Workshop Summary presents an overview of the issues discussed by the workshop's breakout groups; summarizes presentations from the four panels which included Biophysical Services of the Urban Forest; and context for the study with introductory material from the workshop.

This book focuses on urban "green infrastructure" – the interconnected web of vegetated spaces like street trees, parks and peri-urban forests that provide essential ecosystem services in cities. The green infrastructure approach embodies the idea that these services, such as storm-water runoff control, pollutant filtration and amenities for outdoor recreation, are just as vital for a modern city as those provided by any other type of infrastructure. Ensuring that these ecosystem services are indeed delivered in an equitable and sustainable way requires knowledge of the physical attributes of trees and urban green spaces, tools for coping with the complex social and cultural dynamics, and an understanding of how these factors can be integrated in better governance practices. By conveying the findings and recommendations of COST Action FP1204 GreenInUrbs, this volume summarizes the collaborative efforts of researchers and practitioners from across Europe to address these challenges.