Urban Silviculture Guide

Silviculture, a holistic framework for managing forests that is widely used in rural areas, can also be used to manage forests in cities. This guide provides a brief introduction to silvicultural practice, and shows how it can be used to manage forests in cities for sustained and increased benefits through case studies and practical tools for urban forest managers

In a nutshell, this resource offers:

• A framework for conducting silviculture in urban or community settings, starting with assessment, to planning and goal setting, operations, and monitoring.
• A series of case studies from urban, suburban, and rural forests across the country that show how silviculture has been used to deal with management challenges such as non-native invasive species and climate adaptation. They also show that more intensive management interventions, such as thinning or prescribed burning, are possible and even necessary in urban contexts.
• Practical tools such as a checklist outlining data, equipment, and skills needed to execute silviculture, and a silvicultural prescription template, ready to be adapted to individual urban contexts.

How to use this resource:

• This guide will help managers think through their forest management planning at a high level.
• Case studies can be used to understand the value of applying silvicultural techniques and to explain and justify the need for such management to elected officials and other leadership positions.
• The practical tools provided in the guide can be used to execute silviculture on the ground. 

Author: 

Brittany M. Wienke, Natural Areas Conservancy

Clara C. Pregitzer, Natural Areas Conservancy

Helen M. Forgione, Natural Areas Conservancy

Sarah Charlop-Powers, Natural Areas Conservancy

Richard A. Hallett, USDA Forest Service

Max R. Piana, USDA Forest Service

Nancy Falxa Sonti, USDA Forest Service

Date published: 2022

Point of contact: Clara Pregitzer, Natural Areas Conservancy 

Citation: Wienke, B. M., Pregitzer, C. C., CharlopPowers, S. A., Forgione, H. M., Hallett, R. A., Piana, M. R., Sonti, N. F. 2022. Urban Silviculture: Managing and Restoring Forests in Cities. Natural Areas Conservancy, New York, NY. 

Resource is available online here.