Cacapon InstitutePO Box 68High View, WV 26808

www.cacaponinstitute.org

Frank RodgersExecutive DirectorISA Certified Arboristfrodgers@cacaponinstitute.org304-258-7657 / 304-240-2721(c)

Urban Forestry in the Eastern PanhandleWVAGSP

August 13, 2013

Since 1985 Cacapon Institute has been protecting rivers and watersheds. We started with a focus on the Cacapon River and have, over time, expanded our focus downstream to the Potomac and Chesapeake Watersheds.

We operate a vigorous website with watershed education tools and a broad range of information.

Today our education programs reach hundreds of schools and tens of thousands of students across the Bay watershed. We are involved in hands-on project across the Potomac Highlands including the Shenandoah Valley, Western MD, and the eight counties of the greater Eastern Panhandle.

Hands on projects include rain gardens, green roofs, and tree plantings to mitigate stormwater runoff pollution.

Cacapon Institute is active with hands-on tree plantings and is a member of the Chesapeake Bay Program Forestry Work Group and is the coordinating organization of the Potomac Watershed Partnership.

Why “urban forestry”?

USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station

“Envision a region where trees and natural resources support a high quality of life; wildlife, fish, and plant communities thrive; clean water abounds; and people work together to sustain and restore the health of forests.”

Origins of urban forestry: 1980 U.S. census showed population is now urban. So; USDA Forest Service had to ask itself ‘do we serve the trees or the people?’ Urban forestry let the answer be both! These maps show urban areas and projected expansion – much threatens woodlands & forests. In addition Forest Service needed to find a way to serve the people in the urban centers. “Trees” are the answer.

WV “urban” areas per 2000 U.S. Census.

500 people per square mile

(or incorporated area with same)

What is “urban” – U.S. Census: any census block with 500 or more people per square mile, or the whole of any incorporated area that includes a census block with 500 or more people per square mile. We are NOT limited to traditional big “urban centers”. Here are WV’s “urban” areas as defined by the 2000 U.S. Census.

Martinsburg is at the heart of the “Hagerstown Urban Area” with the fastest rate of urban growth in the Mid-Atlantic. All data from the US Census Bureau.

“urban trees”

= stormwater management function

= lower air temperatures

= increased property values

= improved wildlife habitat

= aesthetic for improved quality of life.

We will discuss stormwater & “air” more. Benefit to property value, wildlife, and aesthetic are intrinsic and well accepted; however, data does exist (e.g. People in hospital rooms with a sylvan view heal faster; people will drive farther to, and shop longer at, tree lined business districts).

Dr. Susan Day, VA Tech.

A health shade tree will capture ¾ of the first inch of rainfall. This greatly reduces stormwater runoff pollution.

Dr. Susan Day, VA Tech.

This is true even with impervious surfaces below the tree. Rain is trapped in the leaf canopy, runs down the branches and trunk into the tree well.

Accotink – Storm Simulations

Mid In-Leaf Season

-20000

0

20000

40000

60000

Hour

m3/

hr

Trees

No Trees

Difference

2 year storm

Notice greatest benefit is in an “average storm” event. Trees offer the greatest benefit when we most often need it, a common rain shower.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23

Hour

VOC

Em

issi

on (k

g)

OVOCs

Monoterpenes

Isoprene

Isoprene: •a mechanism that trees use to overcome overheating of leaves •a way to fight against free radicals, especially ozone.

Dr. David Nowak

USDA Forest Service, NRS

Trees produce Isoprene. The hotter the hour the more they produce ( X axis is military 24 hour time). Humans benefit from urban trees fighting ozone.

Isoprene are the building blocks of monoterpenes that, in turn, produce essential oils – the smells of pine and sap.

Isoprenes are one of the reasons trees produce a healthy environment.

Isoprenes give off a blue color and are why the Blue Ridge is blue.

Urban Forestry in WV

“The Chesapeake Bay watershed has lost forestland at a rate of 100 acres per day since the mid-1980s.”

State of the Chesapeake ForestsThe Conservation Fund, 2006

Power corridor at Rt. 127 and the Cacapon River.

2011

2007

Chesapeake Bay watershed statistics:

>750,000 acres lost since 1982, primarily to sprawlingdevelopment.

36% vulnerable to development.

60% fragmented by housingsubdivisions, farms, and other human uses.

40% occurs within the wildland-urban interface.

Increasing “parcelization”~70% of all family forest owners holding less than 10 acres.

The USDA Forest Service’s PPI is a score based on an estimate of the potential to increase tree canopy (i.e., plant trees) and the trees will serve the most people.

National Agriculture Inventory Data landcover was used to determine where tree canopy existed and the amount of open green space (i.e., not building or impervious). A low canopy in relation to open green space scores highest; i.e., there is a shortage of trees but available space to plant.

U.S. Census population growth data was used to identify the low-canopy/open green space in proximity to growing population.

Note how WV panhandles stands out.

The USDA Forest Service’s PPI index matches the later U.S. Census findings that Hagerstown Urban Area has a 74% rate of growth.

In addition to the PPI, there are other GIS tools that can be applied looking at landcover data derived from NAIP.

Map of Potomac River watershed (blue) with WV counties (dark boundary). USFS NRS data showing percent tree canopy for “places.”

Notice WV’s Eastern Panhandle is the line between forest/west and suburban sprawl to the east.

Focus on Tree Canopy?

JEFFERSON

http://www.uvm.edu/~joneildu/GM/JeffersonCounty/LandCover/gmviewer.html

Tree canopy (TC) is the layer of leaves, branches, and stems of trees that cover the ground when viewed from above.

Newer high resolution landcover assessments are now possible. Generally; the higher the resolution of the data the more tree canopy is “discovered.” NAIP 30 meter resolution misses between 5 and 20 percent of the canopy compared to 1 meter resolution.

The USDA Forest Service has a protocol to use the new 1 meter NAIP to assess “urban tree canopy” - individual trees and small patches likely to be found in a built environment. Jefferson County was the first in WV to obtain such a study from the University of Vermont.

Inventory of Existing and Potential Urban Tree Canopy

Buildings

Infrastructure

Jefferson’s study incorporated LiDAR to improve accuracy. NAIP color infrared alone can not identify trees. Some plants have a similar CI return (e.g., shrubs). Incorporating LiDAR to discount all the “tree” CI return below a given height, six or eight feet, improves the canopy accuracy from 75% using just NAIP to 98% accurate for identifying trees in the landscape.

Urban Tree Canopy

UTC is the layer ofleaves, branches, and stemsof trees covering the ground.

With UTC we can segregate parcels and weigh them individually: TA Lowery Elementary with fair tree canopy.

New Washington H.S. - no tree canopy.

If a UTC assessment is not available like above, it is possible to draw the landcover to determine percentages of landcover type.

The tree canopy, open green space, transportation areas, and buildings for parcels of land can be quantified with the urban tree canopy assessment.

Cacapon Institute has completed a GIS landcover survey of all the public school in Regional Service Areas Eight (Berkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Mineral, Morgan, and Pendleton).

American Forests recommends at least 40% tree canopy even in urban settings but the makeup of the landscape and local conditions make each site unique.

Urban Tree Canopy Goal Setting

1. Measure current UTCMeasure existing UTC. Identify the types of forest in the community, including public (street trees, riparian corridors, parks, etc.) and private (residential, commercial, industrial areas, etc.)

2. Estimate potential UTCGIS analyses to identify potential for growth then identify priority locations to support identified community priorities (e.g., reduced stormwater runoff, improved air quality, tourism).

3. Adopt a UTC Goal

High resolution UTC (Urban Tree Canopy) assessments are the foundation for goal setting and planning.

Communities with a UTC goal & plan can seek federal and state support for implementing tree planting programs.

JEFFERSON

Jefferson County is WV’s first to have a plan and the eleventh county in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to complete a county-wide plan & goal.

JEFFERSON

Jefferson County Facts & Goal

•Jefferson County Total Land Area = 133,661 acres

•Total Tree Canopy Area = 50,603 acres or 38%

•59% of the total land area of Jefferson County is available for additional Tree Canopy.

•3% of the total land area of Jefferson County is unsuitable for tree planting.

•Increase Tree Canopy to 40% by 2030. An additional 2,861 acres will be required to be planted in trees.

From Jefferson’s goal. Consider this; if 10,000 properties gave up mowing on just ¼ acres of land the county would “grow” 2,500 acres of forest.

BERKE L E Y

Cacapon Institute has completed a UTC assessment of Berkeley County conducted by the University of Vermont and funded by the USDA Forest Service and supported by WV Division of Forestry.

BERKE L E Y

Berkeley will determine a canopy goal that will be incorporated into their master strategic plan.

BERKE L E Y

New to the Berkeley study, UVM used NASA Landsat data, organized by census block groups, to compare surface temperature to the percent of tree canopy.

MA R T I N S B U R G

Even before the UTC landcover assessment Cacapon Institute was mapping tree canopy and landcover.

Cacapon Institute “dropped” 8,000 random points across Berkeley County to create a statistical assessment of landcover.

Eight areas of interest were identified, the County as a whole, Martinsburg, four urban areas and two sub-watersheds of the Opequon Creek that are predominantly urban landcover.

This image of Martinsburg shows that, while the survey was random and no specific landcover data can be determined, a dense enough random sample will suggest a visual of the landcover.

UTC Sampling: Urban Areas

46%

33%

38%44%

Cacapon Institute looked at Martinsburg and the U.S. Census 2000 “urban areas.”

MA R T I N S B U R G

With the new UTC assessment we have more than a statistical assessment. We can see just where there is canopy, open space, and impervious surfaces.

The City of Martinsburg, working with Cacapon Institute and the WV Division of Forestry, is developing a UTC plan & goal.

MA R T I N S B U R G

Cacapon Institute has completed an i-Tree Streets Inventory for the City of Martinsburg.

i-Tree is the US Forest Service’s premier street tree inventory program.

MA R T I N S B U R G

www.itreetools.org

i-Tree Streets is freeware. The user selects a random set of street segments as directed.

MA R T I N S B U R G

Cacapon Institute’s survey started with the WVU road layer to sample from.

MA R T I N S B U R G

From the broad road layer we selected only streets with the “M” for municipal and only street segments longer than 50 feet. This dropped most alleys and highways leaving us the primary city streets.

MA R T I N S B U R G

i-Tree Streets instructions have specific suggestions for how many segments to sample depending on the city’s size. They recommended 6% for a town of Martinsburg’s size.

Working with the City, Cacapon Institute settled on a 10% sample. Six miles of city maintained roads and streets were surveyed.

MA R T I N S B U R G

A note on the WVU and TIGER road shapefiles.

Segments can overlap. Notice the street names in the table. A single road segment can have multiple, overlapping layers within a road shapefile.

MA R T I N S B U R G

Segments can overlap.

Notice the first block to the north of the right angle that is Queen & King streets.

MA R T I N S B U R G

Overlapping segments must be reduced down to a single segment before the random sampling will work.

If the redundant segment stays in the pool of the sample the total miles of streets will be incorrect.

MA R T I N S B U R G

The i-Tree Street survey was an on-the-ground assessment. After defining the random sample a physical survey is completed.

GIS and selecting the segments is the “hard part.” Most of the work in an i-Tree street survey can be done without special arborist knowledge.

Cacapon Institute or WV Division of Forestry can provide assistance.

MA R T I N S B U R G

Field Sheet.

Basic tree information is needed within broad ranges; e.g., is the tree <3, 3-6, 6-12, or >12 inches in diameter.

The user can adopt i-Tree to inventory more items by only size, health, and species are required for i-Tree to calculate many benefits of trees.

MA R T I N S B U R G

Once the physical survey is complete, the data properly formatted, and entered as instructed, the i-Tree program generates a report. Many of the trees’ benefits will be reported on in a quantitative way. These are just a few of the indicators.

See the whole report by clicking on the Forestry Tab at www.cacaponinstitute.org and following links to reports.

MA R T I N S B U R G

Building from the on-the-ground work of i-Tree it is possible to use the high resolution landcover data to “revisit” the site from a birds eye view.

MA R T I N S B U R G

The information provided by landcover assessments and on-the-ground surveys provides tools for describing and conveying real-world conditions.

Cacapon Institute, working with WV Division of Forestry and Martinsburg Department of Public Works, identified a street in need of trees.

MA R T I N S B U R G

We presented our i-Tree Streets survey to ECOLab, a locally based multi-national firm, during their annual grant-giving campaign and convinced them to fund a tree planting on Ledge Drive.

See how there are no trees on the southeastern end of the drive.

MA R T I N S B U R G

With help from volunteers, 15 trees were planted.

Cacapon InstitutePO Box 68High View, WV 26808

www.cacaponinstitute.org

Frank RodgersExecutive DirectorISA Certified Arboristfrodgers@cacaponinstitute.org304-258-7657 / 304-240-2721(c)