MDC’s Community Forestry Program advises, coordinates and facilitates efforts by many entities that own and affect the state’s community-owned trees. Assistance targeted at local governments, arborists, non-profit organizations and planning councils. MDC urban foresters and staff need a clearer picture of what trees occur along streets and how they change over time. Better management will improve the environmental, social and economic well being of each community and ultimately the entire state of Missouri.
In 2010, a third statewide survey of trees along streets in 44 Missouri communities was conducted by MDC. This follows measurements in 1989 and in 1999. The objective was to depict whether and how Missouri’s urban forests are changing over time. Communities were stratified into analysis classes by population and location with the number of randomly located plots in each community based on miles of road.