The books are: The Politics of Street Trees, edited by Jan Woudstra and Camilla Allen, and The Green Leap, A Primer for Conserving Biodiversity in Subdivision Development by Mark E. Hostestler. They  combine to provide a timeline to urban forestry’s failures and past successes. They show ideas that build in endurance, increase biodiversity, and maintain a livable urban forest for the future.  

The first book is an impressive collection of essays. It weaves a theme around  a controversial action against street trees in Sheffield, England and the ensuing political action to save them. Those ill-fated trees, planted as a memorial to fallen World War 1 soldiers, reveal the struggles every municipality faces – from buckled paving and decaying limbs, infrastructure problems, and funding woes, to the sadness and hope of its residents. Valuing the contribution trees make to the community is difficult. The intangible impacts trees have in a community are vast. It’s not only the carbon removed from tailpipes, but it’s also the high quality urban greenspace that increases childhood IQs. I found the chapters discussing Berlin’s tree action groups of the 1970’s and 80’s fascinating and empowering. Tree planting there, in a small way, helped topple the Berlin wall. Challenges faced around the world, from England to South Africa, present the sparks that will become solutions to make urban forestry better. 

Professor Hostestler’s book builds on the value trees bring to society and wildlife. It describes methods for development which preserve trees and forests while meeting the needs of a growing population. His ideas need local adjustment but provide for provocative thought experiments. The book builds hope for innovative ideas like Dark Sky standards, quantity of lawns, and quality of parks. It describes the basics of incentives-based programs that meet the needs of developers, the city, and citizens concerned about a greener future. It’s a small book and quickly read. 

Planting trees as memorials bridges the past with the present into the future. The severed thread of the soldier’s story is faith woven with tree planting into future stories told with new threads. Building homes in greener spaces, growing a parks system, planning to maintain and increase biodiversity are all future-focused acts. The urban forest we grow today will impact Silverton and beyond into the future and both these books help us to envision and prepare for that future.