Working Trees For Communities

From the National Agroforestry Center (NAC)

Trees strategically planted in a specific place to address a particular need - that's what "working trees" are all about! Working Trees have a job to do. For decades conservation trees have been planted in rural, agricultural areas to protect resources and enhance human environments. In the past, trees were planted in communities primarily to add beauty and provide shade. Community residents, however, have the same responsibility and opportunities as those who live in rural areas, when it comes to protecting our natural resources. Since urban areas are a major contributor to non-point source pollution, the time has come to apply proven rural conservation forestry practices in and around communities to improve and protect our urban resources.

Working trees, in the form of windbreaks, living snow fences, and streamside buffers work to protect homes, industry, schools, emergency facilities, roadways, and people. They reduce wind erosion, improve water quality, screen unsightly areas, provide wildlife habitat clean the air, reduce energy costs, and help beautify your town while they work.

Working trees function not only in a community, but they also fill a very important role when located in between a community and adjacent agricultural lands - commonly referred to as the rural/urban interface. The rural/urban interface plays an increasingly important role as rural farmlands and ranches are encroached upon by expanding urban populations for housing, business, and industrial construction. Here, working trees serve as a "living buffer," the front-line defense for both rural and urban residents against contaminated water and air, blowing snow and dust, noise, and wind. Strategically located outside your community, working trees reduce flood damage, decrease non-point source pollution, and help reduce problems associated with municipal landfills.

The goal of working trees is to protect natural resources and at the same time make our communities productive, profitable, and sustainable for future generations.