Urban Watershed Forestry Archives - Center for Watershed Protection

Maintaining Forests in Stream Corridor Restoration

A recent, rapid increase in the implementation of stream restoration projects in the Chesapeake Bay watershed has led to growing controversy over the short-term adverse impacts of these projects on streamside forest buffers. Stream restoration may also contribute to long-term impacts on the riparian community as delayed tree loss occurs due to altered water levels, soil compaction, and other effects from the adjacent construction activity. Both stream restoration and forest buffers are a significant component of state plans to restore the Chesapeake Bay by 2025; therefore, the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program has a vested interest in promoting synergy between efforts [...]

admin2023-05-23T13:46:38-04:00November 28th, 2022|

Project Update: Using a Novel Research Framework to Assess Water Quality Impacts of Urban Trees

Urban trees impact the hydrologic cycle by capturing runoff in the canopy, drawing water from the soil, and adding organic matter to the soil to increase infiltration. These processes collectively contribute to the ability of urban trees to reduce the amount of rainfall that contributes to stormwater runoff. Increasingly municipal stormwater programs allow site developers to earn stormwater management “credit” for preserving or planting trees on development sites. Modeling tools such as i-Tree Hydro and the Center’s urban tree credit calculators have helped to improve how we quantify the effects of urban trees on stormwater runoff. The Center was awarded [...]

admin2022-12-01T08:11:20-05:00September 21st, 2022|

Building Tree-Friendly Policies in the City of Charlotte

The City of Charlotte, North Carolina has adopted a “50% in 2050” city-wide tree canopy goal in recognition that trees and other green and open spaces are central elements to connect urban places and create access to the natural environment in Charlotte; and that the urban forest generates resiliency, sustainability, and supports a livable and healthy Charlotte. In 2020, the City’s Department of Planning, Design & Development led a study to better define policies that preserve, restore and enhance tree canopy in the context of the City’s anticipated growth. The City contracted with the Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) and [...]

admin2021-03-26T16:06:49-04:00March 25th, 2021|

Project Update: Helping the City of Raleigh Advance Tree Conservation to Improve Air and Water Quality

The City of Raleigh is one of the fastest growing urban areas in North Carolina with goals to develop with environmental protections to improve and protect air and water quality. The City recognized the importance of the urban forest as an integral part to achieve these goals. In 2019, the City secured the services of the Center for Watershed Protection to determine and recommend how the conservation and/or expansion of forest and tree canopy during development can help to improve water and air quality. This work is intended to address the following goal identified in the Growth and Natural Resources [...]

admin2019-09-27T11:12:11-04:00September 26th, 2019|

Creating “Forest-Friendly” Developments to Help Save the Bay

A new publication from the Center for Watershed Protection can help Chesapeake Bay communities review and revise their development regulations to ensure future construction projects maximize tree canopy. These “forest friendly” developments conserve and protect valuable trees and woodlands, encourage new plantings and will help Bay states meet the Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) goal to expand urban tree canopy by 2,400 acres by 2025. Making Your Community Forest-Friendly: A Worksheet for Review of Municipal Codes and Ordinances provides a set of questions to help determine whether existing local codes require, allow or prohibit forest-friendly development practices. Trees and forests capture [...]

admin2018-10-23T15:02:45-04:00September 7th, 2018|

Trees and Stormwater Runoff

What is Stormwater Runoff and Why Do We Need to Reduce It? Stormwater runoff is rainfall that flows over the ground surface. It is created when rain falls on roads, driveways, parking lots, rooftops and other paved surfaces that do not allow water to soak into the ground. Stormwater runoff is the number one cause of stream impairment in urban areas. Where rain falls on paved surfaces, a much greater amount of runoff is generated compared to runoff from the same storm falling over a forested area. These large volumes of water are swiftly carried to our local streams, lakes, [...]

admin2020-02-12T20:19:36-05:00September 11th, 2017|

Center Awarded Research Grant to Study Trees’ Stormwater Benefits

For Immediate Release: July 25, 2017 Contact: Erin Valentine, Chesapeake Bay Trust, (410) 974-2941 ext. 113, evalentine@cbtrust.org Over $1 Million Announced to Support Stream Restoration and Stormwater Management Research (Annapolis, MD) July 25, 2017 – The Chesapeake Bay Trust, in partnership with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA), Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (Montgomery DEP), and with input from the Maryland Department of the Environment, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other agency and technical partners on the Restoration Research Advisory Committee, announce six recipients of the collaborative Restoration [...]

admin2017-09-22T14:42:21-04:00April 24th, 2017|

Chesapeake Bay Program Approves New Urban Tree Canopy BMP

Tree planting is a popular activity in the Chesapeake Bay watershed done by many local jurisdictions, watershed organizations and other groups, as well as State and Federal governments. However the existing urban tree planting BMP did not account for the variety of tree planting efforts and their associated water quality benefits. In 2015 an expert panel was formed to evaluate how sediment and nutrient removal credits are calculated for expanded urban tree canopy. Just last month the Chesapeake Bay Program accepted the recommendations and revised credit for the Urban Tree Canopy urban BMP. The newly adopted BMP credits include two [...]

admin2019-07-25T16:34:05-04:00November 17th, 2016|

Center for Watershed Protection Receives Funding from Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel University

The grants are funded by the Delaware Watershed Research Fund, established with the support of the William Penn Foundation, to inform and advance on-the-ground conservation work including efforts currently underway as part of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative. JeanMarie Hartman, associate professor at Rutgers University, will lead a team from the Center for Watershed Protection and the Pinchot Institute for Conservation that will analyze municipal forest protection policies and determine which regulations are the most effective. Click here for the full press release!

admin2017-09-26T14:50:25-04:00August 16th, 2016|

Planting and Maintaining Trees in Urban Areas

Approximately 80% of the U.S. population lives in cities. As a result, more and more people are disconnected from natural areas such as forests and are unable to reap the daily benefits they provide. This makes urban trees extremely important for providing shade, removing air pollutants, reducing stormwater runoff, and providing recreational and aesthetic benefits. If you don’t think urban trees are important, consider this: Properly placed trees can reduce heating and cooling costs by 10-20% on average within 10-15 years after planting (Heat Island Group 1996). Sales prices of homes with trees increased by 3.5% to 4.5% over similar [...]

admin2019-06-24T15:39:15-04:00August 6th, 2015|