Urban Forest Planning for the Forest History Society

Abstract

For this Master's Project, we worked with a local nonprofit called the Forest History Society (FHS) to assess how FHS can attain their educational and outreach goals through the creation of a new headquarters site on a 10-acre plot of urban forest in Durham, North Carolina. We conducted three analyses: (1) a forest inventory assessing how vegetation and property characteristics of the site will change over the next 100 years in managed and unmanaged scenarios, (2) a trail feasibility analysis assessing how, where, and with what type of content FHS could build an interpretive trail at the new site, and (3) community outreach assessing how FHS can best connect with the Durham community. Results of the analyses were used to provide recommendations to FHS on management of the property, teaching opportunities, interpretive trail design, and public interface and outreach.