Welcome to TreeLink!

This site was created to provide information, research, and networking for people working in urban and community forestry. For the researcher, the arborist, the community group leader, the volunteer - our purpose is to inform, educate, and inspire.

Our Mission is to raise awareness and enable support for healthy urban and community forests everywhere.

Our Goal is long-term impact in urbanized areas, the cities and towns where nearly 85 percent of the U.S. population lives. The goal is accomplished through two primary channels:

The website -- www.treelink.org -- provides information networking and communications tools for urban forestry professionals, nonprofits, government, academics, researchers and the public at large. This includes resources for education and public policy, best practices, access to research on all aspects of tree and forest biology, planting guides, volunteer opportunities, listserves and links to other tree-related organizations, information and activities.

The TreeBank program -- www.iTreeBank.org -- enables local community funds for tree planting, care and education. Customized specifically for urban forestry initiatives, TreeBank provides cooperative marketing with a plug-and-play donation system. TreeBank donors self-direct their contributions to the local TreeBank "branch" in their communities of choice.

What is Urban Forestry?

Urban forestry is the art, science and technology of managing trees and natural systems in and around urban areas for the health and well being of communities. Practitioners combine strategic planning and best management practices with environmental stewardship education to create sustainable, cost-effective solutions for our cities and towns.

When you think of a city, you probably don't automatically think of trees. Isn't a city a collection of buildings, pavement, and parking lots? Yes, but cities are also built with trees and open spaces. In fact, trees are a vital contributor to the health and wealth of any urban landscape. The emerging science and work of urban forestry is an exciting and growing phenomena that integrates the built environment with the natural environment.

Our goal is to place trees and urban forestry on the sustainability agenda, sometimes referred to as smart growth, new urbanism, and green infrastructure or low impact development.

Urban Forestry is the informal abbreviation for Urban and Community Forestry.

The people who work in urban and community forestry, whether they're professionals or volunteer leaders perform the important work of promoting the importance of trees and urban forests in our planting communities.