Workshop Publications

STAC responded to a request from the CBP’s Forestry Workgroup to create a workshop that would help partners implement the urban canopy cover goals of the Riparian Forest Buffer Directive No. 03-01, signed by the Chesapeake Executive Council in December 2003. The workshop brought together urban forestry researchers and practitioners from federal, state, and local levels in the Chesapeake Bay region and beyond to: define the water quality benefits that urban tree canopy provides and how these can contribute toward Chesapeake Bay Program goals; address what an appropriate canopy cover goal for urban watersheds is to produce measurable water quality and quantity benefits; and synthesize knowledge and ideas for the creation of a guide for local governments and community organizations to use in conducting urban canopy cover assessments, developing canopy cover goals, and implementing canopy cover enhancement strategies. The workshop and its report are technology transfer tools intended to help local jurisdictions accomplish the directive’s goals. The workshop and proceedings assist local practitioners in understanding the role of urban tree canopy cover in addressing the goals of the Chesapeake 2000 agreement; learning about various data sources for, and methods of, quantifying tree canopy cover; learning how to set appropriate canopy cover enhancement goals; and, strategies for implementing those goals.