Toward Sustainable Urban Forest Governance: Strategies For Stakeholder Engagement In Tree Planting And Stewardship

Cities across the United States are planting thousands, if not millions, of trees to remediate the negative environmental impacts of urbanization and to enhance the livability of urban areas. Engaging residents, property owners and other stakeholders in urban forest management can ensure that newly planted trees become established so that the benefits provided by the trees can be sustained in the long-term. Urban forestry practitioners working in the government and civil society sector play an important role in providing opportunities for stakeholders to participate in the planning, planting and maintenance of urban trees. My thesis utilizes mixed methods research to examine the stakeholder engagement approaches of urban forestry practitioners, residents' perceptions of their shared role with government and civil society to maintain urban trees, as well as the institutional, physical and social factors within the urban environment that may influence urban forest stewardship behaviors