Benefits of Urban Trees

Rowan Rowntree, Urban Forest Ecology Researcher, USDA Forest Service:

"It's important to see the city not as just a set of artificial buildings and impervious surfaces, but as having an infrastructure or a circulatory system weaved through it of live material. It's a vibrant renewable resource that unfortunately we take for granted as we walk through the city. But it's critical to life within the city. If we look at it as a rich tapestry of dynamic processes and interacting components. If we're going to just look at it as a set of street trees or as single elements, we're just not going to comprehend it."

Morris Arboretum Center for Urban Forestry:

"The urban forest is the interaction of people and plants wherever they coexist. At one time a deep, old hardwood forest covered the eastern seaboard of the United States. The development of our cities and suburban communities dramatically altered this landscape. In its place, a new, urban forest has grown with cities which includes the dogwoods and crab apples in our backyard gardens as well as the street side plantings of maples and oaks and the expanses of our city parks. These small pockets of green dramatically impact our lifestyle by cleaning our air and our water and giving our communities a sense of pride, while cooling our homes in the summer. Trees and plants in our most urbanized and degraded neighborhoods produce a sense of community and vitality for all residents."

Missouri Department of Conservation

"About 75% of Missouri's population lives in cities and towns. Without trees, our cities would be a sterile landscape of concrete, steel and asphalt. Trees help soften the urban environment and make our cities better places to live. Urban trees are especially valued for their environmental benefits. They filter dust and pollution from the air. Tree-shaded streets, parking lots and homes are cooler in the summer. A few well-placed trees can slow winds to reduce winter heating bills by 10-50 percent. Healthy trees increase property values, and everyone enjoys the spring flowers and fall colors of the urban forest.

Trees are as much a part of a community's infrastructure as streets, utility systems and sidewalks. They cool streets and parking lots, counteracting the "heat island" effect created by vast expanses of concrete and asphalt. Trees filter dust and pollution from the air and reduce noise pollution. Their spring flowers and fall colors add beauty and increase property values."