Urban forestry in North America

In this article, urban forestry is presented to scientists and practitioners in the renewable resources field. The importance of urban forestry in addressing issues of urbanization, e.g., lack of access to clean water, air pollution, loss of biodiversity, is described. Obstacles to urban forestry, e.g., growing spaces that are limited in number and quality, lack of funding for tree care and management, poor public outreach and education, are considered. The One Forest Framework–which emphasizes the connection between urban and rural forests as a way to foster city dwellers as stakeholders in natural resource management, inside and out of cities–is presented, and Sacramento’s “Greenprint” is described as an exemplar of a regional urban forest plan.