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 State
and Private Forestry
 Urban
and Community Forestry
In an effort to create local capacity to maintain the tree cover in urban areas,
arboriculture training was prioritized. Workshops were given in the
following areas of arboriculture and urban forestry: tree biology, tree pruning,
tree problem diagnosis, tree planting and establishment care, species selection
for urban locations, shade tree appraisal, and nursery production.
The recently established Puerto Rico and US Virgin Island division of the
Southern Chapter, International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) demonstrated a
2500% increase in membership since 1994. Local leadership for the ISA was
developed by the Forest Service and is now functioning with minimal input.
Through grants to the two insular forestry agencies (Puerto Rico Department of
Natural and Environmental Resources and the Virgin Islands Department of
Agriculture), multiple projects were funded with $70,000 of cost-share funds to
non-profit groups, educational institutions, and local or insular government
agencies. Priority was given to projects which increased general awareness of
the value of trees, provided educational opportunities, or made the sub
recipient group better able to manage their own urban or community forest
resource in the future. Three hundred and sixty five communities received
technical assistance from the two insular forestry agencies. Over ten
thousand trees were planted in urban areas.
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