Colorado Statewide Forest Resource Assessment

needed cost-savings to local governments. Community trees and forestsprovide food and cover for myriad birds, squirrels, bats, butterfl ies and otheranimals, and they often serve as critical corridors that enable wildlife to safelynavigate through developed areas. Trees also support local economies byattracting businesses and tourists, increasing real estate values, improvingworker productivity and reducing energy and maintenance costs.Because of their ability to reduce the environmental impacts of urban growthand improve quality of life, many believe that trees and forests should beconsidered an essential part of the community’s infrastructure – its green infrastructure.A number of efforts are underway to help towns and cities quantifythese benefi ts so they can plan for the use and maintenance of trees andforests over the long-term, as they do other infrastructure components. A 2001examination of the Denver metropolitan area and northern Front Range foundthat trees provide $3.2 million in annual stormwater management services,facilitate $4.5 million in residential summer energy savings and mitigate 2.2million pounds of pollutants at a value of $5.3 million per year. Unfortunately,no similar studies are available to quantify this value for the entire state.One way communities can increase the benefi ts they receive from their treeand forest resources is by hiring or contracting with trained foresters and/orarborists to assist decision-makers in strategically planting and maintainingcommunity trees. In Colorado, very few communities possess this kind ofexpertise on staff, nor is it available through private contract; the majorityof communities with this capacity exist in the larger metropolitan cities andtowns. The CSFS and its partners offer both technical and fi nancial assistanceprograms to help communities plan and care for their trees and forests. 47Many of the state’s communities are projected to grow signifi cantly by 2030,so it is important that more communities take advantage of these resourcesto ensure that they are as prepared as possible to mitigate the environmental,social and economic impacts of urban development and growth.Analysis: To assist the CSFS and its partners in focusing available resourceson the communities most in need, subject-matter experts from the CSFS andUSFS developed a data layer highlighting Community Forestry OpportunityAreas. The U.S. Geological Survey’s Night Lights data set for Coloradowas used to identify urban and suburban areas, as well as the communityinfl uence zone that surrounds and impacts the health and sustainability of thecommunities in those areas. The foundation then was overlaid with data onprojected housing change between 2000 and 2030 to identify communitiesthat are likely to experience signifi cant growth. This combined layer thenwas analyzed with a mask indicating which communities currently have paidforestry expertise on staff.47For more information on CSFS programs for urban and community forestry, please see the agency’s website athttp://csfs.colostate.edu/pages/urban-community-forestry.html.65