Where is environmental justice? A review of US urban forest management plans

Abstract

Urban trees are rarely inequitably distributed across city neighborhoods. Distributional injustices concerning city trees are present in many cities; their origins are rooted in enduring procedural and recognitional injustices. Our research systematically investigated Urban Forest Management Plans (UFMPs) prepared by municipalities across the United States (107 total) for their mention and explanation of environmental justice (EJ) themes relevant to urban forestry. UFMPs describe municipal urban tree-planting and stewardship goals as well as pathways for their implementation and monitoring. Using a mixed-method approach, we examined UFMPs for reference to three EJ pillars: distribution, procedure, and recognition. Mentions and explanations of these concepts were identified and counted for all UFMPs. Summary counts were investigated for association with a UFMP’s publication year, its municipal population, and its racial composition. UFMPs published more recently and whose authoring municipalities have a larger population referenced EJ themes more frequently. A positive association exists between the frequency of distributional justice explanations and the proportion of Black residents in a city with an UFMP. While a positive association with procedural justice mentions was found with the proportion of white residents in UFMP-authoring cities, EJ is not a central theme across most UFMPs published to date. References to EJ concepts in the UFMPs were often brief and lacking in substance; recognitional justice themes were absent in almost all plans. Improving EJ goals and implementation strategies in UFMPs that validate the perspectives and experiences of residents can strengthen accountability between urban foresters and the communities they serve.