Guidelines for Urban Forest Restoration in New York City

This book is an accessible and comprehensive review of forest restoration in New York’s parks from conception through execution to long-term management. A generous selection of carefully selected color photographs, drawings, charts, and timelines complement the text. Maps pinpoint project locations.

In a nutshell, this resource offers:

• Background and context of forest restoration in New York City, with an emphasis on the special challenges faced by wooded urban ecosystems. 
• A justification of the importance of active management and restoration in New York City's natural areas.
• An examination of the processes of selecting, assessing, and inventorying sites, designing the restorations, and planning for their implementation.
• A case study of restoration efforts at Givans Creek Woods in the Bronx.

How to use this resource:

• As a guide to establishing restoration goals, reviewing opportunities and constraints, and assessing, evaluating, and prioritizing sites in the field.
• As a guide to establishing the principle components of site preparation that include site protection, invasive plant management, site clearing, and soil preparation.
• As a guide with illustrations of manual methods to control invasive plants, appendices that include federal, state, and city regulations that may apply to forest restoration projects in New York City. 
• As a general overview of common forest communities of New York City and surroundings. 

Authors: Katerli Bounds, Michael Feller, Jennifer Greenfeld, Minona Heaviland, Clara Pregitzer, Tim Wenskus

Date published: 2014

Point of contact: New York City Parks Department

Citation: Bounds, K., Feller, M. J., Greenfeld, J., Heaviland, M., Pregitzer, C., Wenskus, T., Gunther, B., Johnson, L., King, K., Lu, J., Naidich, M., Pehek, E., Simmons, B., Stanley, S. & Toth, E. 2014. Guidelines for Urban Forest Restoration. New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. New York, NY.

Resource is available online here.