| Abstract: | A study was conducted from 1978 to late 1984 of the survival of inner-city street trees planted by the Oakland, California urban forestry program. The tree survival rate of approximately 60 to 70 percent from the trees planted in neighborhood parkways through urban forestry sponsored block parties contrasted sharply with less than one percent survival of trees planted earlier by the Model Cities program without community participation or ceremonial plantings. Explanations for the high tree survival were tested using participant observation, interviews with residents, and a small panel. Tree survival was not found to be related to the explanations provided by urban forestry ideology; namely, that residents had been educated to hold both instrumental and expressive values toward trees. Rather, the explanation appeared to be the function of an unintended solution to the issue of parkway ownership. The tree planting process which included species selection meetings and tree planting ceremonies tended to define the parkway trees as a resident's property, thus decreasing the significance of the parkway-property barrier. The generality of the Oakland illustration is discussed. |
