Whose woods are these? Forest patch characteristics and ownership across cities of the eastern United States

Forests in cities are important social and ecological resources that vary in spatial extent, configuration, and ownership across urban areas, yet these patterns are not well described. Using high resolution urban tree canopy maps and planimetric data from three major cities of the eastern United States (New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Baltimore, MD), we distinguish patches of forest from other tree canopy types. We then compare forest patch spatial characteristics and ownership across the three cities. Baltimore has the greatest citywide forest patch cover (8.3 %) and forest patch area per resident (29.5 m /person), followed by Philadelphia (6.3 % and 13.7 m person) and New York City (3.9 % and 3.5 m 2 / /person). Baltimore’s forest also has the largest median patch sizes, and the lowest citywide forest edge to core ratio. Thus, we find Baltimore’s forest cover to be more concentrated and less fragmented than the other two cities. While all cities have a majority of forest patch area located on municipal property, Baltimore has the greatest amount of privately owned forest, followed by Philadelphia and then NYC. Baltimore also has the largest number of property parcels and owner types per patch compared to the other two cities. These patterns in distribution of forest cover reflect historical and present-day processes of local ecology and economic development, and have implications for effective conservation and management of forests in cities.

In a nutshell, this resource offers:

• A description of a methodology for identifying forest patches.
• A comparison of spatial characteristics and ownership between cities.

How to use this resource:

• As a methodology for mapping forest patches and distinguishing them from other types of canopy.
• As data for forest patches in several East Coast cities. 

Author: Nancy F. Sonti, Matthew E. Baker, Michelle P. Katoski, Michael Allman, Katherine Lautar, Richard A. Hallett, Max R. Piana, and Clara C. Pregitzer

Date published: April 2025

Point of contact: Nancy F. Sonti nancy.f.sonti@usda.gov

Citation: Nancy F. Sonti, Matthew E. Baker, Michael Allman, Richard A. Hallett, Michelle P. Katoski, Katherine Lautar, Max R. Piana, Clara C. Pregitzer, Whose woods are these? Forest patch characteristics and ownership across cities of the eastern United States, Landscape and Urban Planning, Volume 260, 2025, 105374, ISSN 0169-2046, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2025.105374.

Resource is available online here.