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CommuniTree: Partnerships for tree planting and research in Northwest Indiana

  • August 2018
  • Conference: International Society of Arboriculture 2018 International Conference & Trade Show
  • At: Columbus, Ohio
Authors:
Jess Vogt at DePaul University
Jess Vogt
Margaret Abood
Margaret Abood
Margaret Abood
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Abstract

CommuniTree is a new, multi-organization, community urban forestry partnership that engages in tree planting in underserved, post-industrial Northwest Indiana communities. Coordinated by the U.S. Forest Service and modeled after Collective Impact [1], the partnership involves many public, private, and nonprofit partners as well as several municipalities. The goals of CommuniTree are to coordinate grant-funded and privately-funded urban forestry efforts in communities that would not otherwise be able to plant and care for trees. Tree planting provides communities with many benefits such as stormwater management, energy conservation, air pollution reduction, human health benefits, and even improving social capital. However, these benefits may be under-realized in post-industrial communities suffering from high housing and business vacancy rates that cause a decline in municipal tax bases and thus a decline in provision of municipal services such as tree planting. In order to make sure that tree-planting initiatives like CommuniTree most benefit the communities they wish to serve, it is important to evaluate tree planting initiatives in the socio-environmental context of the communities in which trees are planted. For Northwest Indiana communities in particular, the aforementioned post-industrial socio-economic challenges are compounded by the environmental challenges posed by the surrounding unique dune and swale ecosystem along Lake Michigan. To be successful and sustainable, CommuniTree should be responsive to the motivations, needs, and desired outcomes of the communities and stakeholders involved in the project. To these ends, in this presentation we will present research and practice of CommuniTree. First, we will present the evolution of the structure and operations of CommuniTree as a collaborative experiment in public-private-nonprofit tree-planting partnership. Then, we will describe the applied research that students at DePaul University’s LUFA (Lab for Urban Forestry in the Anthropocene) have been conducting for the past year. We will present results from interviews with CommuniTree stakeholders and from a survey of tree-planting volunteers that describe the motivations for and benefits from involvement of organizations and individuals in CommuniTree. Regional collaborative partnerships modeled after Collective Impact, like CommuniTree, are relatively rare in urban forestry. CommuniTree is not a formal organization; it has no administrative budget and no permanent staff. Nonetheless, tree planting, care, and, most importantly, engagement with communities happens. We believe that studying CommuniTree in the long term is important for generating a diffuse, decentralized model of collaboration between governmental entities (federal, municipal governments, state programs), public utilities, industry, and nonprofits, which perpetuates sustainable, long-term urban forestry efforts. 1. Driscoll AN, Ries PD (2015) Cultivating a greener collective impact: A guidebook for regional urban forestry collaboration. Salem, OR: Oregon Department of Forestry.
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CommuniTree:
Partnerships+for+tree+planting+&+research+in+
Northwest+Indiana
Presenters:
Dr. Jess Vogt
Margaret Abood (BA ENV ’18)
Collaborators:
Drew Hart (USFS)
Rebecca Brokaw (BS ENV ‘18)
How do you plant & steward trees & foster
sustainable urban forests when you have…
NO municipal urban forestry program?
NO local tree planting nonprofit?
NO permanent UF budget?
NO permanent UF staff?
Overview
1. Northwest Indiana context
2. CommuniTree program
3. CommuniTree Evaluation Research Project (CERP)
•Interviews
•Survey
4. Wrap-Up & Next Steps
1. The Northwest Indiana context
Demographics, economics, and history of a vibrant and challenged region
5 county region
•Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Newton, Porter
•Operates on Central time (w/ Chicago)
•Served by South Shore Line commuter rail
•aka, Gary-Hammond metro area
•Included in Chicago MSA
1. Northwest Indiana context
Demographics & Economics
•Pop.: 800,000+
•764,000 in LaPorte, Porter, Lake
counties
•65% White, 18% Black, 14%
Hispanic or Latino
•23% households earn
<$25,000/yr
•140+ years of Heavy industry
(steel, oil refineries)
•Factories have closed since 1980s
•Casinos
Pop.
Poverty
rate
% Black
Hammond
78,349
23%
22%
Gary
77,858
36%
81%
E. Chicago
28,961
35%
37%
Chicago
MSA
9.5 mil.
12.4%
16%
Sources: U.S. Census American Community Survey (2016), NIRPC, Calumet Stewardship Initiative, DataUSA
1. Northwest Indiana context
LOTS of vacant
land/properties
Residential
vacancies >15% in
Gary
1. Northwest Indiana context
Source: NIRPC
Source: NIRPC
1. Northwest Indiana context
Agriculture
Res-Low
density
Res-Med-
high
density
Commercial
Park, open
space
Heavy industry
Light industry
Vacant
Institutional Water
1. Northwest Indiana context
Source: NIRPC
Vibrant
region,
promising
future
Calumet Region Ecology
•“flat, wet post-glacial
topography”
•Ecotone: transition between
hardwood forests + tallgrass
prairies
•Indiana Dunes National
Lakeshore –unique dune &
swale habitat
•Brownfields & restoration
•Water quality management
Source: Calumet Stewardship Initiative
1. Northwest Indiana context
2. The CommuniTree program
Collaborating to plant and care for trees in NW Indiana
In it’s own words…
“a dynamic partnership of community, industry
and government agencies”
“…to promote tree planting, after-planting care
and maintenance of trees…with the ultimate
goal of creating a healthier and more diverse
tree population.”
2. CommuniTree program
Source: CommuniTree website: http://www.nirpc.org/2040-plan/environment-green-infrastructure/communitree/
Drew Hart
Chicago Region Natural Resources Liaison
•U.S. Forest Service, State & Private
Northeastern Area
•Dedicates LOTS of time to
CommuniTree during planting
seasons
•Originator of CommuniTree
•Based on community tree planting
program that Drew started with others
at Keep Indianapolis Beautiful (KIB)
•& Collective Impact model
•Applied first to urban forestry by Paul Ries
et al. in Portland, OR-Vancouver, WA region
2. CommuniTree program
Drew Hart at Spring 2018 CommuniTree training
Common agenda
Shared
measurement for
data & results
Mutually-
reinforcing
activities
"Backbone"
coordinating
organization
Open/continuous
communication
COLLECTIVE
IMPACT
Source: Kania & Kramer 2011: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/collective_impact
2. CommuniTree program
Collaborative
…
Multi-
organizational
…
Grant-funded
…
Tree-planting
…
Partnership
12+
Stakeholders
Plant +
Maintain
Trees
Benefits of
Trees for
Communities
2. CommuniTree program
CommuniTree activities •Apply for grants to fund…
•Community trainings
•Tree planting + care
•Inventory workshops
•HT write grant applications
•Give away trees to
applicants
•Urban forestry crew training
•Volunteer events
•Plant trees
•Park or municipal property
•Industry land
•2 years tree care
•“Community engagement”
2. CommuniTree program
Tree planting
•~1,000 native trees planted in 2017
•Will plant ~1,000 more in 2018
•Trees provided at no cost to grant
recipients –schools, municipalities,
community groups à
•Or trees are planted by SCA crew
•Trees watered for 2 years,
municipalities provide water
•Funding:
•NFWF grants to SCA
•GLRI grants to NIRPC
2. CommuniTree program
Spring 2017 CommuniTree tree planting
Student Conservation Association (SCA) Crew
2. CommuniTree program
Crew: BreShaun Spikes (leader), Jerome Williams, Joe Willis, Leo Sawyers
At Reed Park in Gary w/ LUFA students
Tree planting demo at PraxAir in Burn’s Harbor
3. CommuniTree Evaluation
Research Program (CERP)
Transdisciplinary research partnership
+
CommuniTree + DePaul LUFA = Research
Research Questions:
1. What are stakeholder roles, motivations, & desired outcomes for
CommuniTree?
2. What resources (funding, time, material, etc.) are stakeholders allocating
to the CommuniTree effort and to what activities are these resources
dedicated?
3. What are the observed environmental (ecological) and community
(social) outcomes of CommuniTree?
4. How does the surrounding socio-environmental context influence
CommuniTree stakeholders & participants and observed environmental
& community outcomes?
www.lufa-depaul.org/communitree
3. CommuniTree Evaluation Research Project (CERP)
Stakeholders
•USFS
•SCA
•NIRPC
•& many
others
CommuniTree
Capacity
•Tree planting &
maintenance
•Education &
outreach
•Volunteer/
community
participation
Outcomes
•Ecological outcomes
•Tree survival àprovision
of benefits (stormwater
management most
crucial)
•Social outcomes
•UF stewardship capacity
•Employment/training
opportunities for tree
crews
•…& more
Existing SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT
…land use, other ecological characteristics
…relationships & networks between community &
stakeholders
…environmental conditions
...historical socio-economic & cultural dynamics
…values, norms, knowledge of trees/stewardship
…etc.
Resources
(Funding,
Personnel,
Materials)
External
funding
Multi-strand Mixed Methods Research
1. Stakeholder Interviews -completed
2. Volunteer survey –in-progress
3. Household survey –to be administered Fall 2018
4. Resource flows mapping – in progress
5. Tree outcomes –will happen Fall 2019
3. CommuniTree Evaluation Research Project (CERP)
Multi-strand Mixed Methods Research
1. Stakeholder Interviews -completed
2. Volunteer survey –in-progress
3. Household survey –to be administered Fall 2018
4. Resource flows mapping – in progress
5. Tree outcomes –will happen Fall 2019
3. CommuniTree Evaluation Research Project (CERP)
Stakeholder Interviews -METHODS
1. Interview script development and stakeholder identification
2. Interviewing Stakeholders
3. Qualitative Analysis using NVivo
3. CommuniTree Evaluation Research Project (CERP)
Stakeholder = a group or organization that provides (receives)
resources to (from) the CommuniTree program
Stakeholders
oU.S. Forest Service (USFS) –Drew Hart
ØStudent Conservation Association (SCA)
ØNorthwestern Indiana Regional Planning Committee (NIRPC)
ØIndiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Coastal Program
ØNorthern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO)/Arbormetrics
ØNorthwest Indiana Urban Waters Partnership
oMunicipalities: East Chicago, Gary, Hammond, Whiting
oWildlife Habitat Council
oDunes Learning Center
oThe Nature Conservancy
o…and growing
2. CommuniTree program
Stakeholders
oU.S. Forest Service (USFS) – Drew Hart
ØStudent Conservation Association (SCA)
ØNorthwestern Indiana Regional Planning Committee (NIRPC)
ØIndiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Coastal Program
ØNorthern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO)/Arbormetrics
ØNorthwest Indiana Urban Waters Partnership
oMunicipalities: East Chicago, Gary, Hammond
oWildlife Habitat Council
oDunes Learning Center
oThe Nature Conservancy
o...and growing
2. CommuniTree program Public
Nonprofit
Private
Partnership
Ecological outcomes
1. Stormwater management
2. Pest/disease recovery (EAB)
3. Air quality improvement
Social outcomes
1. Aesthetics/beautification
2. Improved public spaces
3. (tied) Community engagement
Forestry job training
Stewardship education
Low-cost tree planting & care
3. CommuniTree Evaluation Research Project (CERP) Public
Nonprofit
Private
Partnership
***
****
***
****
***
***
*****
**
RESULTS: Desired outcomes
Most common
Green infrastructure is the thing that we can easily do to
manage stormwater…and trees is the thing that allows us to
do that. (GEA)
Stormwater
management
Ecological outcomes
3. CommuniTree Evaluation Research Project (CERP)
Green infrastructure is the thing that we can easily do to
manage stormwater…and trees is the thing that allows us to
do that. (GEA)
Stormwater
management
When the emerald ash borer came in and started killing off
the ash trees…we’ve cut maybe three or four hundred trees…
So it was really critical from my standpoint to replace them
with trees in this area for this area. (EC)
Pest or disease
recovery
Ecological outcomes
3. CommuniTree Evaluation Research Project (CERP)
In twenty to thirty years, you go back to these parks where
these little trees are now big trees, you’re like, ‘I get it. I get
the whole picture.’ (EC)
Improved
public spaces
Social outcomes
3. CommuniTree Evaluation Research Project (CERP)
In twenty to thirty years, you go back to these parks where
these little trees are now big trees, you’re like, ‘I get it. I get
the whole picture.’ (EC)
Improved
public spaces
We realized that we have a high poverty rate, like 37%, and
we needed to create opportunities for employment… So we
started a push on the green job workforce… And we were
able to start our urban conservation team… [and] they
always get these training opportunities…So if they go with
Drew [with CommuniTree] that day, then they’re planting
trees, learning the work. (GEA)
Forestry job
training
Social outcomes
3. CommuniTree Evaluation Research Project (CERP)
So what?
•Stakeholder satisfaction crucial to
sustainability
•Organizational, financial viability
•Interviews inform all other data
collection methods AND
CommuniTree activities
3. CommuniTree Evaluation Research Project (CERP)
Volunteer survey -METHODS
•Questionnaire about…
•demographics of volunteers
•motivations for volunteering
•personal efficacy
•environmental knowledge & attitudes
•Paper questionnaire distributed at 8
CommuniTree tree planting events in spring
2018
•Also sent survey link to email addresses
obtained during sign-in at events
•est. 100 volunteers at all events in total
•32 responses
3. CommuniTree Evaluation Research Project (CERP)
At Arbor Day ceremony with
CommuniTree & City of East Chicago
Prelim. survey results
•VOLUNTEERS were…
•Female: 60%
•Working full time: 38%
•College students: 25%
•39% White, 27% Hispanic, 19%
Black
•Most had never planted a tree
before
•60% consider themselves an
environmentalist
3. CommuniTree Evaluation Research Project (CERP)
Prelim. survey results
•VOLUNTEERS were…
•Female: 60%
•Working full time: 38%
•College students: 25%
•39% White, 27% Hispanic, 19%
Black
•Most had never planted a tree
before
•60% consider themselves an
environmentalist
•Personal efficacy
à
3. CommuniTree Evaluation Research Project (CERP)
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
National government
decisions
Local government
decisions
The global environment
The environment in my
neighborhood
A lot of influence Some influence
Very little influence No influence
Overwhelmingly pro-environmental attitudes
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
My actions can help to solve
environmental issues and problems.
It is important to me that my community
includes green space.
Trees are important to my local
environment.
Conservation is important to me.
Strongly Agree Somewhat agree Neither agree nor disagree
Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree
3. CommuniTree Evaluation Research Project (CERP)
4. Wrap-Up & Next Steps
What have we learned & where will we go from here?
Existing challenges
CommuniTree program
•Recruiting volunteers for
planting events
•Engaging individuals who live
near where trees are planted
•Transience of grant funding
LUFA Research
•Qualitative data = time
•Volunteer survey: hard to
convince people to fill out on-
site, few respond to follow-up
email
•Potentially being “outsiders”
4. Wrap-Up & Next Steps
•Changes in project personnel
•Changes in stakeholders
•This is no one’s full-time gig
Both
Next Steps
•Household survey
•In neighborhoods near and far from trees planted
•Provide info to help CommuniTree better engage neighborhoods
•Transform stakeholders’ desired outcomes into a 10-year plan to
monitor & evaluate CommuniTree outcomes
•Involve DePaul students – research assistants + students in Jess’
Mixed Methods Research & Urban Forestry classes
4. Wrap-Up & Next Steps
Creating a sustainable,
long-lasting program
Now
5 years
10 years
Questions?
Dr. Jess Vogt
Assistant Professor
Environmental Science & Studies
DePaul University
jess.vogt@depaul.edu
www.lufa-depaul.org
Margaret Abood
B.A. Environmental Studies ‘18
aboodmargaret@gmail.com
CommuniTree: Partnerships for Tree Planting
& Research in Northwest Indiana
–Jess Vogt
–Margaret Abood
Code: CF-18-029
0.75 A, M, Bm
Monday, 6August 2018 ISA Annual Conference
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