Forest Management Framework for New York City

NYC’s forested natural areas provide important benefits to the city including high-quality recreation, enhanced biodiversity, and improved air and water quality. The Natural Areas Conservancy (NAC) and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) have developed a 25-year Forest Management Framework intended to guide the restoration and management of NYC Parks’ 7,300 acres of forested natural areas. The framework, NYC’s first citywide forest management plan, is based on new comprehensive data that includes ecological conditions and visitor perceptions and experiences. The framework calls for an investment of $385 million over 25 years to ensure that our city’s forests achieve their full potential for recreation and conservation.

In a nutshell, this resource offers:

• An assessment of forest conditions in more than 50 parks across all five of NYC's boroughs, with matrices describing ecological health and threat to natural areas
• Best practices for maintaining and improving forest health in urban systems, and a system for prioritizing activities over time
• A cost and staffing estimate year by year to achieve the recommendations

How to use this resource:

• Examples of how to cost out forest management over the long-term.
• Demonstrating to decision-makers how a long-term plan can help create administrative structure for forest management.
• Guidelines for assessing health and threats to natural areas.

Authors: Clara C. Pregitzer, Helen M. Forgione, Kristen L. King, Sarah Charlop-Powers, Jennifer Greenfeld

Date published: April 2018

Point of contact: Clara Pregitzer, Deputy Director of Conservation Science, Natural Areas Conservancy, clara.pregitzer@naturalareasnyc.org 

Citation: Pregitzer, C. C.; Forgione, H. M.; King, K. L.; Charlop-Powers, S. A.; Greenfeld, J. 2018. Forest Management Framework for New York City. Natural Areas Conservancy, New York, NY.

Resource available online here.