By Jane Raffaldi, New York Department of Environmental Conservation
As leaves change this time of year, it’s obvious that urban trees make our communities more beautiful, but did you know they also make our neighborhood streets safer? Streets lined with trees tend to encourage slower driving and statistically have less accidents than those without. And it’s not just speeds that are lowered by their presence – they also contribute to lower stress levels in drivers, leading to less road rage.
How does a simple stretch of trees have such a magical impact? According to the Federal Highway Administration, the presence of tree canopy along a street provides a narrowing speed control measure by creating a “psycho-perceptive sense of enclosure” that discourages speeding.
When drivers feel like they’re in a smaller, closed space – like a tunnel or a canopied street – they drive slower than when driving through open areas. Additionally, the presence of greenery naturally calms us whether we are consciously looking at it or not.
The Council presents annual awards to outstanding individuals, organizations, communities and tribes that further urban forestry in Wisconsin. The awards are announced each year at the annual Wisconsin Urban Forestry Conference and presented to winners in their community. We are currently seeking nominations for the 2021 awards.
Wisconsin’s urban forests provide a wide range of ecological, economic and social benefits. Urban areas contain nearly 27 million trees with an estimated total replacement value of almost $11 billion. Many don’t realize all the services urban forests provide. They reduce air pollution, mitigate storm water runoff, conserve energy, provide wildlife habitat, increase property values, and attract businesses, tourists and residents. They even improve public health and well-being. The Wisconsin DNR’s Urban Forestry Team seeks to maximize these benefits derived from our state’s community tree canopies. 
The Wisconsin DNR is currently accepting applications for Urban Wildlife Damage Abatement and Control (UWDAC) grants. UWDAC grants are available to any town, city, village, county or tribal government located within an urban area (
Sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation, the Partners in Community Forestry Conference is the largest international gathering of urban forestry practitioners, advocates, researchers, and government leaders. The virtual format this year provides an excellent opportunity to attend this leading conference so easily and inexpensively.
The newly launched Healthy Trees, Healthy Lives website (
Jack Frost descends upon us all in Wisconsin, but the depths to which he brings the mercury differ depending on your latitude, elevation, and proximity to water or urban areas. These differences are observed in a location’s cold hardiness zone, which represents the average minimum temperature a location is expected to experience.