Urban Trees and Private Property

However, only about 20% of those trees are on public land such as parks or on rights-of-way where planting strips are commonly used for street trees. Together, urban trees are said to provide a value of more than $2.4 trillion in environmental services and other benefits. 

Many legal and economic scholars state that the benefits of urban trees can be considered a “public good.” However, if 80–85% of the producers of this public good are on private property, it is easy to see a politically charged dilemma. Since the days of James Madison, arguments have been made for sanctity of property rights. So where does urban forestry stand in the collision of the two concepts — property rights and public good? 

Clearly, planting and management of trees on the private portions of a community have great potential for increasing the amount and diversity of the city’s tree canopy and helping to ensure other healthful conditions of the urban forest as a whole. In this bulletin, we showcase several ways cities throughout the country are working to respect private property rights while at the same time making a positive impact on what happens to the trees on privately held parcels.