Measuring urban forestry performance and demographic associations in Massachusetts, USA

The United States Forest Service measures successful management of the urban forest by the number of communities that have achieved some or all of four parameters described by the Community Accomplishment Reporting System. The four parameters address whether a community has: (1) a management plan, (2) professional staff, (3) urban forestry ordinances/policies, and (4) an advocacy/advisory organization. We surveyed tree wardens in the Massachusetts' communities to determine how many communities met each parameter, as well as other indicators of urban forest management. Nearly all responding communities met 1 performance parameter, but only 15% met all 4 parameters. Communities with greater population were more successful in achieving the parameters than those with smaller population. (C) 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.