Climate Smart Missoula

  • Home
  • About
    • Blog
    • In the News >
      • Sustainable Missoula Column
    • Contact Us
    • People
    • Partners
    • Smarty Pants Awards
    • Jobs and Opportunities
    • Goals and Strategies
    • History
  • Summer Smart
    • Wildfire Smoke >
      • HEPA Air Filtration
    • Active Fires
    • Hotter Days and Nights >
      • Fans, A/C, and Coolers
    • Clean Air Cool Places Map >
      • Understanding Indoor Air Quality
    • Shade >
      • Shade Shelters
    • Local Climate Indicators
    • Drought and Low Flows
    • Shareable Products
    • Partners and Supporters
    • Summer Smart News
  • Energy Smart
    • Energy Smart Challenge
    • Energy Smart Map
  • Solar Smart
    • Solar Ease
  • Happenings
    • Advocacy
    • Calendar
    • Earth Month 2018
    • Health and Climate Summit >
      • Health Climate Resouces
    • Art and Humanities >
      • Open Air Art Show
      • Climate, Health and Humanities
  • Action Plan & Buckets
    • Education and Outreach
    • Inventory and Metrics
    • Forests and Open Lands
    • Green Building, Energy Efficiency and Conservation >
      • Home Rehab
    • Healthy Community >
      • Mental Health
    • Local Food and Agriculture
    • Renewable Energy
    • Sustainable Economic Development
    • Transportation and Smart Growth >
      • Smart Growth - Active Transportation
    • Water Conservation and Protection
    • Zero Waste >
      • ZERO by FIFTY
  • Climate Science
    • Forests and Fire
    • Local Climate: Signs of Change
    • Climate Impacts
  • Donate!
    • Year-end
  • Home
  • About
    • Blog
    • In the News >
      • Sustainable Missoula Column
    • Contact Us
    • People
    • Partners
    • Smarty Pants Awards
    • Jobs and Opportunities
    • Goals and Strategies
    • History
  • Summer Smart
    • Wildfire Smoke >
      • HEPA Air Filtration
    • Active Fires
    • Hotter Days and Nights >
      • Fans, A/C, and Coolers
    • Clean Air Cool Places Map >
      • Understanding Indoor Air Quality
    • Shade >
      • Shade Shelters
    • Local Climate Indicators
    • Drought and Low Flows
    • Shareable Products
    • Partners and Supporters
    • Summer Smart News
  • Energy Smart
    • Energy Smart Challenge
    • Energy Smart Map
  • Solar Smart
    • Solar Ease
  • Happenings
    • Advocacy
    • Calendar
    • Earth Month 2018
    • Health and Climate Summit >
      • Health Climate Resouces
    • Art and Humanities >
      • Open Air Art Show
      • Climate, Health and Humanities
  • Action Plan & Buckets
    • Education and Outreach
    • Inventory and Metrics
    • Forests and Open Lands
    • Green Building, Energy Efficiency and Conservation >
      • Home Rehab
    • Healthy Community >
      • Mental Health
    • Local Food and Agriculture
    • Renewable Energy
    • Sustainable Economic Development
    • Transportation and Smart Growth >
      • Smart Growth - Active Transportation
    • Water Conservation and Protection
    • Zero Waste >
      • ZERO by FIFTY
  • Climate Science
    • Forests and Fire
    • Local Climate: Signs of Change
    • Climate Impacts
  • Donate!
    • Year-end

Urban & Wildland Forests and Open Lands

We envision that our surrounding forests and open lands, together with our urban forests, are healthy and adapted to local climate conditions, contribute to climate mitigation, and are supported by a broad sector of the community. We'll work together to enhance forests and local habitats so they're resilient and adapted to changing climate conditions and can provide a broad array of goods and services including: shade and cool temperatures, carbon capture and storage, clean and abundant water, diverse wildlife habitat, and renewable wood products. ​

Where we're heading:

  • This "bucket" will be featured at our April 5th monthly meetup at Imagine Nation Brewing. Join us to talk urban tree development and exciting ways to get involved! 
  • ​We're exploring climate-forest-wildfire connections - check out what we're learning on our new page: Forests and Fire.
  • With Trees for Missoula, Missoula Parks and Recreation, and other partners, we're working to expand and develop our urban forest and communicate the climate benefits of our city trees. 
Picture
At the April 2016 RUN for the TREES we gave away oodles of trees, most of which will end up in Missoula's soil, keeping us cool, healthy and happy for years. Find out about WHAT trees to plant via our nifty guide and HOW to care for these trees at treesformissoula.org.

TOP STRATEGIES
​from our Community Climate Smart Action Plan

Support and Enhance Our Urban Forestry
  1. Work with City's Parks and Recreation Department and Urban Forestry Division, Missoula County, Montana Dept. of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) to identify funding, education, and project opportunities to enhance our urban forest. Use City's Urban Forestry Plan as a starting point. 
  2. Partner wtih treesformissoula.org, add carbon benefits, and help advertise this site.  
  3. Consider the creation of a carbon offset program to help finance implementation of a strong Urban Forestry program. 
  4. Develop and advocate for local and state policy changes which can incentivize urban forests and greenscapes. 
  5. Work with local government and developers to ensure all socio-economic groups have access to trees and nature.  
Picture
Re-Plant and Restore Open Space and Public and Private Lands
  1. Educate about and incentivize native plantings, bring costs down, and make it easy for community members and businesses. 
  2. Work closely with the Five Valleys High Performance Building Collaborative (FVHPBC) and Green Building Bucket to tie forest management and sustainable construction together. Specifically expand the use of wood in construction in place of energy intensive materials. Explore use of local woody residuals for right-sized energy projects. 
  3. Develop a Missoula County Connectivity Project. This would identify restoration needs, promote landscape connectivity to facilitate movement of species, and connect groups and programs with a shared vision. Detailed project scope needs to be defined. 
  4. Evaluate feasibility of a carbon offset funding program that is more expansive than urban forests. 
  5. Plan for and use appropriate prescribed fire in roadless and small wilderness areas (e.g. Welcome Creek and Rattlesnake NRA). Include education and outreach. 
  6. Plan for and use appropriate timber harvest, typically in conjunction with fire, to create resilient forests, emphasizing Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). 
  7. Develop and advocate for local and state policy changes which can support or incentivize xeriscaping. 
Connect Forests and Water
  1. Develop Forest and Water "Best Management Practices" that will blend the desire for water quality with increased water yield and timing. 
  2. Encourage agencies to remove and/or replace under-sized culverts that make roads vulnerable to "rain on snow" or other flood events. 
  3. Conduct forest activities that enhance forest resilience and provide water yield benefits. 
Engage in Forest and Climate Education 
Picture
  1. Educate about value of open forest/open space, building support to preserve and expand. 
  2. Partner with local, state and federal governments and non-government organizations to offer education to private landowners about wildfires, fire use, and dynamic nature of ecosystems. Showcase research conducted by Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory (Fire Lab). 
  3. Educate and support sustainable forestry that builds resilient habitats and watersheds, with priority in the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI). 

Our Work, in a Nutshell:

FORESTRY
News and Resources:
Our friend Dave Atkins has started a new blog all about FORESTS, with a special section on Trees and Climate. 

Check out our Blog all about Urban Forests and with a map of tree canopy
 by neighborhood. Pretty cool.

Summer 2016. We have a new report, based on earlier work with the City of Missoula: Climate Change and Missoula's Urban Forest: a tree canopy assessment. 

Local study finds that 13.4 % of Missoula is covered by urban forests. A collaborative group that includes Climate Smart Missoula, Missoula Parks and Recreation, the US Forest Service, and Trees for Missoula, worked on a study to map and evaluate our urban canopy cover, to learn which neighborhoods have more - or fewer - trees.  Check out our infographic below!
Picture

Check out this report on Missoula's urban forests and climate change! 

UM Students Calculate Benefits of Trees on Campus
​
"
In all, the students marked 28 different trees around campus with the neon green tags that show their economic benefit to the school. Those trees alone totaled more than $200,000 in value over a 50-year period."
​
Kaimin article: Say Goodbye to Missoula's Trees
"Sixty one percent of all trees lining the streets of Missoula could be removed over the next 20 years, according to an urban forest plan presented to the Missoula City Council in April 2015. That's a total of 14,884 trees. The council approved $120,000 to fund the project through its first fiscal year."

Want to know more about urban forestry in Missoula? Click here

Check out the City of Missoula's 2015 Urban Forest Master Management Plan

Ready to Plant a Tree?
Check out the City of Missoula's recommended trees and shrubs for this community, which includes tips for planting and watering, and  a list of certified arborists.

Ready to get involved?
​
Contact the Climate Smart Missoula Leadership Team at info@climatesmartmissouls.org 

Outside Missoula:
​
Trees are one of the best dollar-for-dollar investments a city can make. Read about it here!

Another win for cities with trees - from Minneapolis to Bangladesh!

Money may not grow on trees, but the benefits trees provide are worth a lot! 

Interesting article about trees and heat islands from the east coast.

Urban forests also provide major mental health benefits.
​
Check out this video on the benefits of urban forests!

How are other cities managing their urban forests? Check out the "10 Best Cities for Urban Forest," according to American Forests.
Proudly powered by Weebly
✕