Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute partners with communities for urban forest initiative

Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute is helping nine communities in Indiana to develop and manage urban forests through the Resilience Cohort initiative. The goal of the initiative is to help these communities manage and expand their tree canopies and develop urban forests. This is the third year the ERI is assisting communities thanks to funding from the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Urban and Community Forestry program.

According to an article on Indiana University’s website, Sarah Mincey, the Managing Director of the ERI, explained the benefits of a healthy tree canopy and urban forests for Indiana communities. She is quoted as saying, “Communities that adopt ERI’s data-driven approaches to managing urban trees are able to think carefully about how their canopy can provide the most benefit for residents. As Indiana’s climate becomes warmer and wetter due to climate change, the services provided by trees—including cooling shade, stormwater management, and air filtration—will become increasingly valuable assets that can help Indiana cities, towns, and counties thrive.”

This year, nine communities are forming plans and developing tools to manage their urban forests as participants in the Resilience Cohort. These communities, which include Gary, Huntington, Lafayette, Logansport, South Bend, Dearborn County, Lawrence, Richmond, and Evansville, will receive assistance and training from the ERI and each will host a McKinney Climate Fellow, which is an Indiana University student who is interested in participating in sustainability career experiences. McKinney Climate Fellows help the communities develop their planting plans by going over data like flood risk, urban heat, sociodemographic data, and community feedback.

This year’s work includes the usual guiding of communities in developing their own urban forests as well as a new cohort track that will help support long-term community resilience through master plans. In years past, the project has resulted in the planting of more than 800 trees and provided more than 250 hours of training to participating community governments.

Stephanie Freeman-Day, the ERI Resilience Programs Coordinator, said, “An important part of the project is working with the communities to figure out not only where trees would provide the most benefit but also where residents want trees. Fellows invest a lot of effort engaging with neighbors and community leaders, getting their input on potential tree sites and species, and including them in the planting to boost the long-term success of the new trees.” 

The program’s new Resilience Cohort track is funded by the IDNR Community and Urban Forestry program, which challenges local governments to create community plans to develop and protect their local urban forests. The three areas of evaluation in the Community and Urban Forestry program are the health of the local tree population; the formal policies that guide how forestry decisions are made; and the community assets that help the canopy thrive.

Participating localities will utilize the assistance of experts, elected officials, and local practitioners to develop a set of tools that can be used to guide decisions and initiatives to maintain and protect the community’s urban forests.

For more information about Indiana University, visit the school’s website.