Seeing the big picture.

New Yorkers who are frustrated with the bureaucracy may be seeing only part of the picture. First of all, the urban forest of a city like New York is surprisingly diverse. Of the five boroughs, Queens has the most trees and Staten Island is the most suburban; the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan are the most impoverished in terms of an urban forest, Barbara Eber-Schmid, executive director of Trees New York says, "Manhattan people tend to be the most passionate about trees, probably because they have fewer trees."

What may be even more surprising is that New York City also has a significant urban wilderness. Paul Berizzi, chief of environmental services for the city's Department of Parks & Recreation, oversees the metropolitan area's 322 square miles of street trees, park trees, and forests. Approximately one-tenth of these 206,000 acres is parkland, and of that, 5,000 acres are forest preserves. A five-year, $6.3-million grant from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund is underwriting the planting of 150,000 trees. The grant also has paid for clear out invasive exotics causing a decline in the value of New York's wildlife habitat.

"We're on the Atlantic flyway," says Berizzi. "Neotropical migrant bird species that overwinter in the tropics need motels along the way when they're migrating, and New York is one of those places. So we're very concerned about preserving and extending habitats."

One problem Berizzi deals with is forest fire - with an urban twist. More than 100,000 cars are stolen in New York City every year. The thieves take the cars to isolated woods, strip them for parts, and then throw a match in the gas tank. To prevent forest fires, Berizzi's department has installed more than 16 miles of perimeter guard fences.

But stopping fires in forest preserves is only a small part of the Parks Department's job. It is responsible for approximately 2.8 million trees, including two million forest trees, 300,000 park trees, and 500,000 street trees. Because of limited personnel, the department can provide park trees with little or no attention during their lifespan.

As for the street trees, the department is barely able to replant enough to keep up with the 10,000 that die each year. The city's 6,3000 miles of streets have room for more than one million additional trees. Subways and utility lines eliminate other potential planting sites. With a total of 2.8 million trees, the city has a long way to go to have one tree for each of its 7.7 million human residents. "It would be desirable to increase the tree population for improving oxygen production, combating air pollution, improving aesthetics, and increasing property values," Berizzi says. "Right now the glass is only half full."

He points out that the permitting process for tree planting is essential to ensure that an adequate mix of tree species. The city has a history of loading up on one or two species, such as Norway maples (Acer platanoides) and London plane trees (Platanus acerfiolia), he says. The danger is that a disease such as the chestnut blight or Dutch elm disease might come along. Berizzi says, "We have this pattern of putting all our metamorphical eggs in one horticultural basket."

Former city forester Keith Kriet admits to the frustrations New Yorkers have experienced in trying to plant trees. "There were horror stories about the city bureaucracy," he says. "People who wanted to plant their own trees had to get three different permits. But some innovative groups banded together, stopped waiting for the city to do things, and took charge of their own neighborhoods. Almost every borough has neighborhood block associations or community gardening groups that have gotten together and improved their neighborhood."

The Parks Department's 64 foresters spend much of their time removing dead trees and pruning hazardous limbs. Volunteer citizen pruners trained by Trees New York take care of newly planted trees. But they cannot replace the 144 professional pruners and climbers on staff a decade ago. Berizzi believes 300 to 400 year-round professionals are needed for adequate tree care.

"We would love more citizen support at budget time," he notes. "Parks always get high ratings from the public as essential services, but still we see the parks budget going down. Political support in terms of phone calls, letters, and faxes are essential to trees in New York City."