Boston’s Urban Forest Coalition (BUFC) is a coalition of non-profit, city, state, and federal organizations working to transform Boston’s urban forest in order to improve the urban forest ecosystem, public health, and quality of life for Boston’s residents. Partners include the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the USDA Forest Service, EarthWorks, Mass GIS, Tufts University, Mapping Sustainability, Boston Green Space Alliance, DotWell, UMass Extension Communities, Families and Youth Program and the Boston 4-H Urban Stewards, and the Urban Ecology Institute.

The Coalition developed out of a series of conversations between the Urban Ecology Institute, the Boston Parks & Recreation Department (Boston Parks) and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) around the Greater Boston Urban Forest Inventory (inventory). As both Boston Parks and the DCR own and manage forested land in the city, both expressed an interest in increased collaboration and saw the Greater Boston Urban Forest Inventory as an excellent opportunity to work together to improve overall forest management. Based on the broader expressed need for more comprehensive planning in the city, Boston Parks, the DCR, and the Urban Ecology Institute joined forces to launch Boston’s Urban Forest Coalition.

The goals of the Coalition are to:

• Develop a comprehensive management plan for Boston’s urban forest,
• Improve education and outreach about the urban forest,
• Launch and coordinate a network of NGO’s, education institutions and government agencies at all levels working to improve Boston’s urban natural resources,
• Identify and support legal and policy reforms that support urban forestry improvements at the state and local level.

The Coalition has identified and begun four key projects that will allow us to accomplish these goals and has organized working groups around each project. These projects are:

• The implementation of a GIS-based urban forest inventory, including a volunteer-based street tree inventory and a remote sensing analysis of overall canopy cover,
• The development of a comprehensive strategic plan for Boston’s urban forest based on the Forest Opportunity Spectrum, a new tool developed by the Forest Service for identifying and understanding tree stewardship opportunities in urban areas,
• Research and advocacy around policy issues that impact urban forestry,
• The development of a marketing campaign to increase public awareness of the relationship between public health, quality of life, and a healthy urban forest.