GREEN POLICIES.

In an effort to encourage decisionmakers to plant and care for urban trees, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection sent copies of AMERICAN FORESTS' video "Building Cities of Green" to every mayor in the state.

More than 480 cities received the video with a letter urging lawmakers to use urban and community forestry to regreen their cities. The letter outlined the department's recent research showing 25 percent more urban trees are being removed than planted--an increase of 7 percent in just seven years, The study also showed many municipalities are planting smaller shorter-lived trees because of cost and labor concerns.

AMERICAN FORESTS has a long history of helping communities care for and retain urban trees. As part of those efforts AMERICAN FORESTS recently supported California Governor Gray Davis inclusion of $3.1 million in the annual budget for urban tree planting. Several mayors already have replied to the letter, according to Eric Oldar, state coordinator for the agency.

AMERICAN FORESTS presented "Building Cities of Green" at its 1999 National Urban Forest Conference. The video focuses on the Puget Sound and how technological tools such as AMERICAN FORESTS CITYgreen can help communities save trees and preserve the natural landscape. The film also looks at tree trends in the Chesapeake Bay and Atlanta areas.