Natural disasters cause significant damage each year to our urban forests, and years of local investment in planting and caring for community trees can be suddenly wiped away. We know that urban forest and community resilience can be improved by using best practices in planning, response and recovery. The questions we seek to answer through this special webinar event are: how can we rapidly assess storm damage and what are the lessons learned in mobilizing an effective response and long-term recovery effort? 

Dr. Steve Norman of the USDA Forest Service will share the newest publicly available remote sensing tools available to predict and assess forest damage. Will Liner of the Florida Forest Service will share how they effectively assessed damage using Urban Forest Strike Teams in Florida and Alabama last year after Hurricane Sally. Alex Sherman, city forester with Springfield, Massachusetts will share lessons learned in long-term recovery from a 2011 tornado.