Meeting the Needs of a Dynamic Urban Forest
The New York City Urban Field Station's mission is to improve quality of life in urban areas by conducting and supporting research about social-ecological systems and natural resource management. It began as a partnership between the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation. The Urban Field Station does the following:
- Promotes natural resource stewardship and ecological literacy to advance human well-being in New York City, the country’s largest and most diverse metropolitan area.
- Partners with land managers to create innovative “research in action” programs that support urban ecosystems.
- Conducts comparative research and shares findings with counterparts in other metropolitan regions in the United States and globally.
- Links to a growing network of U.S. Forest Service scientists and university cooperators focused on urban research.
Highlighted Projects
STEW-MAP - fills the gap in understanding about how individual citizens, non-profit organizations, businesses, and governments work together as environmental stewards. This project seeks to understand and map the ways citizens serve as stewards by conserving, managing, monitoring, advocating for, and educating the public about their local environments (including water, land, air, waste, toxics, and energy issues).
Urban Tree Canopy - The aim of the Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) assessment is to increase decision maker’s understanding of their urban forest resources, particularly as it relates to the amount of tree canopy that currently exists and the amount of tree canopy that could exist. The UTC assessment protocols have been applied to several cities, and the results of these assessments have been used to inform UTC goals, assist in targeting tree canopy efforts, and justify budget increases for urban forestry programs.
MillionTreesNYC - Forest Service researchers serve as science advisors to the MillionTreesNYC Campaign which is a joint project of the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation and the New York Restoration Project to plant and care for one million trees in New York City. This work builds on the sustainability goals of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's PlaNYC 2030 and utilizes research, monitoring, and evaluation from scientists across NRS.
Urban Natural Resources Stewardship at Northern Research Station
NYC Research Focus Areas fall within the NRS Theme Urban Natural Resources Stewardship
Read our current Progress Report (pdf)
Other NRS Urban Field Stations