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Introduction
The introduction can include:
- a brief description of the community which sets the stage for how the community interacts with and is served by the urban forest. Comes from Historical context
- a brief description of the benefits of trees to the community. Comes from Benefits of trees
- a brief description of the local geography or environment as it impacts the urban forest. Comes from Assess environment
- a brief description of what the native flora is like. Comes from Historical context
- a brief description of what soil characteristics are. Comes from Assess environment
- The rational for developing the plan. Comes from Getting started-Why, and Historical context
- A brief description of what is covered in the plan. Comes from Getting Started-What/Where-Scope
- A brief discussion of the target planning horizon(s) for the plan. Short-term and long-term intervals may apply to different plan components. Comes from Getting Started-When
Other elements may be appropriate depending on the plan and community. Like the Executive Summary, the Introduction may be one of the last parts of the plan to be written.
Example
Ithaca, New York is commonly referred to as the "Forest City". Carol Kammen, a noted Ithaca historian, says Forest City was "one of about 56 now defunct neighborhood post offices". In a quote from Ithaca and Its Resources, Kurtz, 1883, used by permission of the DeWitt Historical Society, there is a reference to a train ride from Owego.
"As the cars reach the brow of the hill the traveler catches a bird's-eye view of Ithaca and the Cayuga Lake....Then, as the train moves forward and continues its journey around the hillside another...view is presented....On the level plain, a half mile below, is seen Ithaca, almost concealed by the tops of trees by which its every street is lined, and to the superabundance of which it is indebted for the title of 'Forest City.'"
This century-old description of Ithaca holds true today as the traveler enters Ithaca from atop any of its three hills. The traveler sees a canopy of trees looking very much like a natural forest, broken only by its tallest buildings. Arriving downtown, the traveler sees tree-lined streets even in the central business district. Many of Ithaca's trees are large and mature trees and many are young and newly planted. The traveler will see an amazing diversity of tree species ranging from sugar maples to Amur cork trees, from horsechestnuts to Japanese zelkovas. Ithaca's urban forest is alive and well and is there for everyone's enjoyment!
Ithaca is located in central New York and has a population of about 29,000 people (2000); the greater Ithaca area has about 45,000 residents. Its primary industry is education, it being the home of Cornell University and Ithaca College. There are many high-technology industries in the area who, along with Cornell, Ithaca College, Morse Industries, Borg-Warner, and Axhiom, are major employers.
Ithaca is situated at the head of Cayuga Lake; one of eleven finger lakes created by the retreat of the last continental glacier. The downtown area sits on an alluvial flood plain with glacial till underneath, and the surrounding hills have Devonian shale as bedrock with occasional outcroppings of Tully and Onondaga limestone. The predominant soil type is entisol, with pH ranging from 4.3 (acidic) under conifer stands to pH 8.3 (alkaline) next to Ithaca's sidewalks (soil tests done by Lee Oplinger). Downtown Ithaca is about 390 feet above sea level, and the hills rise to about 900 feet above sea level.
Ithaca falls within the USDA hardiness zone 5a. This means our average lowest temperature is -15 to -20 degrees Fahrenheit. The downtown area is a slightly warmer zone 5b with -10 to -15 degrees Fahrenheit average minimum temperatures. We receive an average annual precipitation of 35 inches, with 67.3 inches of average seasonal snowfall. Most of our weather is influenced by the prevailing westerly winds. Cayuga Lake moderates the downtown weather, the hills often being 8 to 10 degrees cooler.
The vegetation in and around Ithaca is a mixture of eastern deciduous hardwood and northern conifer forests. This shifting mosaic forest is typical of central New York and represents the last phase of vegetative succession. Some of the species found in this forest are red, sugar, and silver maples, paper birch, quaking and bigtooth aspens, eastern cottonwood, black cherry, chokecherry, black walnut, butternut, pignut and shagbark hickories, northern red oak, white, bur and black oaks, serviceberry, hackberry, dogwood, American hornbeam, hop hornbeam, hawthorn, tuliptree, black locust, white and green ashes, boxelder, eastern white pine, Norway spruce, American sycamore, redbud, mulberry, basswood, black willow, and eastern hemlock. Ithaca's urban forest interfaces with and becomes a part of this setting, sharing many of the same species.
Master Plan for Ithaca Parks and Forestry
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