(Above: Dr. Gaines Smith, Alabama Cooperative Extension System director, signs the agreement establishing the Alabama Forestry Partnership for the next 5 years.  Also pictured, left to right: Timothy Boyce, state forester, Alabama Forestry Commission; Dr. Richard Brinker, dean, Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences; Neil Letson, state urban forestry coordinator; Jennifer Fidler, Alabama Urban Forestry Association, and  Juanita Winegar, administrator, Contracts and Grants, Auburn University Office of Sponsored Programs.)

The Alabama Urban Forestry Partnership functions with just this idea in mind: to provide resources to small and large communities so that they can enhance their scenic appeal through tree planting and better management of existing trees. And after three years of fine-tuning this partnership, members are confident that they are poised to make lasting contributions to cities and towns across Alabama.

Founded in 1999 by four public and private agencies -- the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, the Alabama Forestry Commission, and the Alabama Urban Forestry Association -- the partnership is the only one of its kind in the nation. Working separately has characterized urban forestry efforts in other states, but Alabama member agencies work as a team.

It is an undertaking as ambitious as it is unique and one that has involved countless adjustments and compromises along the way. Even so, organizers are convinced they're onto something, something that will pay huge benefits to Alabama cities and towns over the next few decades.

"Because it's so new and so novel, it's really taken the first three years for all of these adjustments to fall into place," says Neil Letson, Alabama Urban Forestry coordinator. "But now the organizations have a better feel for what all of this means, and we're really poised to make it work better than it ever has before."

Each organization, he believes, carries "special strengths, resources and abilities" that enables each agency to profit from the others, while "magnifying the impact of all four."

One of the partnership's top priorities within the next decade will be carrying out the goals outlined in its new strategic plan. So far, one of the hallmarks of the partnership's efforts has been persuading an increasing number of Alabama communities to hire full-time professionals to manage existing urban forestry resources. It is an effort that will be stepped up within the next five years.

"One of our primary efforts will be increasing the numbers of cities with urban foresters by 20 percent within the next five years," Letson says. "We already have 21 cities with full-time foresters, and we hope to have four or five more in place by 2005."

The plan also calls for assessing the current level of urban forestry resources in Alabama. Urban forests are believed to comprise about 6.3 percent of the state - more than 200 million urban trees, which amounts to 69 trees for every Alabamian. Much of this information, however, is based on anecdotal evidence, Letson says. A major focus within the next five years will be developing methods to assess these resources more accurately.

Part of this will involve developing guidelines for local community tree programs so that they will be better able to assess and monitor their own sources.

Education aimed at all of the key players in urban forestry management from the "homeowner to volunteers and professionals" is also a major priority outlined in the new plan, Letson says. The partnership plans to reach builders, developers and regional planners with educational information to help them better understand and appreciate the importance of urban forestry resources to their communities.

The strategic plan also stresses the importance of recognizing people who have made lasting contributions to urban forestry at the community level.

"People at higher visible levels tend to get far more credit than the ones actually during the footwork," Letson says. "So much of the success of urban forestry has depended on people at the ground level -- individual citizens and urban forestry professionals."

"They're the ones making it happen and who deserve credit for what they've done."

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