Benefits of Trees In Urban Areas

Trees are major capital assets in cities across the United States. Just as streets, sidewalks, public buildings and recreational facilities are a part  of a community's infrastructure, so are publicly owned trees. Trees -- and, collectively, the urban forest -- are important assets that require care and maintenance the same as other public property. Trees are on the job 24 hours every day working for all of us to improve our environment and quality of life. 


Colorado’s urban forest provides many environmental benefits to our community. Aside from the obvious aesthetic benefits, trees within our urban forest improve our air, protect our water, save energy, and improve economic sustainability.


Unlike urban areas in the eastern U.S., canopy cover in Colorado decreases along an urban to rural gradient. In other words, since most trees have been planted much of the tree cover is in urban areas as opposed to “natural lands”. Therefore, estimated pollutant uptake rates are higher for residential compared to natural or unmanaged lands. Possible management implications of these estimates are that air pollutant uptake benefits from tree planting may be optimized by planting in areas where air pollutant concentrations are elevated and where relatively high planting densities can be achieved thereby enhancing the health of urban dwellers.