The Planning Process
The planning process does not need to be complicated. In fact, the more complex it is, the fewer people you will have interested in its development. Therefore, try to keep the process manageable and seek advice from a professional urban forester or arborist.
The objective of this planning tool is to help those communities that are new to urban forest management develop a basic, easy to understand (and easy to follow) management plan. Over time, after developing and working their basic management plan, it is hoped that communities will better understand the need for such a plan and further develop a more comprehensive and detailed plan or plans with the help of qualified professionals.
Planning is not a one-time event but an ongoing process that includes data gathering, implementation, evaluation, and revision. Every community is different and thus plans vary among communities. However, the steps taken to create a plan are similar, and there is a logical sequence of events in the process that helps to produce a successful plan. The five basic steps in a management plan are:
- The vision
- Assessing the resources
- Identifying needs that will help in realizing the vision
- Setting goals and developing strategies to address the needs
- Evaluation
Each of the five steps will briefly be addressed here:
1. The vision:
The vision sets the direction for your plan. Ask yourself “what do I want these trees to do for my community”. A good exercise is to close your eyes and envision the way you would like for your community and its trees to look in the future, say in 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, or even 100 years. The vision statement asks the question “Where do we want to go?”. Over time, this vision may change due to developing or unseen circumstances (i.e natural disasters), so don’t stress over getting it right this first time.
2. Assessing the resources:
Once you have an idea of what your community will look like in the future, you will need to know what you currently have. Taking an inventory of the trees in your community will allow you see the current condition of your trees as a whole and help you to better understand what needs to be done to realize your vision. You should plan to reassess your trees periodically (i.e. every five years or so) to see how things are progressing. If your community does not have an inventory of its trees, it would be advisable to make it a high priority need. It is very critical to get a professional arborist involved in this step to help you develop the inventory criteria.
3. Identifying the needs:
What types of things must be done (or needs to be done) to move your urban forest program toward your vision. Things such as public education, funding, tree maintenance policy, periodic tree inventories, tree ordinance, etc. are possible needs that should be addressed. If you are new to urban forest management, you may want to start out slowly and identify only the most critical needs for your community. After becoming more familiar with the planning process, you can add other, less pressing needs into your plan.
4. Setting goals and developing action items:
With your needs outlined, set reasonable goals to address the needs. Develop measurable objectives or action items to help you accomplish the goals. Assign the action item to an individual or group, and give them a target date for completing the item. If there is a cost associated with the action item, it is a good idea to estimate that as well. This will be presented to the community’s elected officials (or whoever is responsible for the community’s finances). Costs usually must be justified, so it may also be a good idea to provide a good, valid reason why money should be spent on that action item. These goals can be set out over several years or designed to be completed in one year.
5. Evaluation:
Periodically evaluate the progress of your plan. It may be a good idea to do this once every year, preferably well in advance of the start of the new fiscal year. Ask yourself, “Are we getting what we want?”. Was everything that we set out to do completed? If not, why not? You may need to re-evaluate your vision, needs, goals, and action items to ensure they are reasonable and/or attainable. At this point, you will want to set new goals and objectives for the new year, or you may simply need to set new completion dates in order to accomplish the goals previously set out. A professional arborist can help you determine what goals are attainable and at what cost.