ILLINOIS AUDUBON BULLETIN 3 
Out on the Limb 
of Urban Forestry 
by BRUCE FULLER 
Shade and ornamental trees 
have long played an important role 
in man’s efforts to enhance his liv- 
ing environment. Trees are impor- 
tant not only for their beauty, but 
for contributing an air of freshness 
in crowded city surroundings. They 
seem to reflect a feeling of com- 
munity and individual well being. 
The urban forester is the profes- 
sional in charge of planning, 
maintaining, and perpetuating a 
community’s trees and green buffer 
zones. Like all foresters, he is a 
steward of the earth. And like all 
foresters, the ramifications of his 
stewardship will be evident long 
after he has gone. 
Traditionally, foresters manage 
trees for any number of economic 
goods and services. These would 
include wood products and by- 
products, water quality, soil con- 
servation, and wildlife production. 
The urban forester, however, 
views trees for their esthetic value. 
Trees are looked upon as living 
organisms and are enjoyed for their 
beauty. The ecological relationship 
a town has with its trees should be 
one of mutualism. With this asso- 
ciation, both the town and its trees 
benefit. It is the job of the urban 
forester to achieve this goal be- 
tween the two organisms — human 
and tree. 
The forester encounters many 
pitfalls while striving to achieve 
this optimum co-existence. His 
problems can be with the environ- 
ment, with the public, or of an 
economic nature. The challenge of 
urban forestry is to deal with these 
problems. 
Environmental Problems 
The environmental problems of 
a city’s trees may be either biolog- 
ical or physiological. 
Biological problems include all 
pathogens — agents causing dis- 
ease — that could infect trees ei- 
ther in a natural setting, or those 
trees planted in a boulevard or park 
