Across the United States, cities including Detroit, Michigan have established ambitious goals to increase the urban tree canopy to achieve multiple ecological and social benefits. However, a non-profit organization responsible for planting street trees on city-owned property in residential neighborhoods throughout Detroit, Michigan received "no-tree requests" (NTR) from 24 percent of residents between 2011 and 2014. This example reflects divergent views between participants regarding street tree-planting programs, and a barrier to urban tree canopy improvement. The literature points to a need to examine perspectives of diverse urban forestry participants on tree-planting programs, particularly in regards to decision-making power. Decision-making power structures are a key contributor to environmental injustices according to urban political ecologists, and shared decision-making among diverse participants is a defining feature in models of urban and community forestry models in the U.S. It is currently poorly understood how perspectives on these factors differ among types of participants involved in urban greening, such as non-profit organizations and residents. This study sought to gain a deeper understanding of perspectives on current and desired involvement of participants in street tree-planting programs from city residents eligible to receive a street tree and relevant staff, board members and volunteers within The Greening of Detroit (TGD). Diverse neighborhoods in terms of proportion of residents who submitted NTR were purposively sampled to gather data from a range of residents who received trees and submitted NTR. Data were collected through a variety of qualitative methods including individual interviews, group discussions, and participant observation of community events. Data collection focused on understanding perspectives on power dynamics of street tree-planting, and heritage narratives, which are "broad renditions of a community's history...the character of its people (both past and present), and its trials and triumphs over time" (Bridger, 1996, p. 355). The results for this study demonstrate that submission of a "no-tree request" (NTR) is not an adequate indicator of residents' satisfaction or long term engagement with a street tree planted in front of their house, since not all who received a tree were happy with the result. Heritage narratives of residents showed the importance of "upkeep" as an identifying characteristic of neighborhoods. Residents who had negative experiences with trees and city services, and lacked resources to address issues of upkeep in the neighborhood, expressed a greater desire for involvement in tree-planting decision-making processes. While many within TGD acknowledged a lack of citizen involvement in tree-planting decision-making, expansion of this involvement was limited by a perceived lack of resources for outreach and a heritage narrative that described residents as unaware of the multitude of benefits of trees. This study provides insights that can help in the cultivation of shared goals and means to improve the health and sustainability of the urban tree canopy among forestry professionals and city residents. The results point to a need to explicitly uncover and transform power dynamics among participants to allow for a vision of urban and community forestry that accounts for, rather than suppresses, heritage narratives of city residents. This can lead to greater collaboration and improved ecological and social outcomes for entities that seek to improve the health and equity of the urban tree canopy for all residents.
Read
