What's New:
Join LA Urban Center's Executive Oversight Team.
Applications Open Now!

Partner Spotlight:
Say hello to CAL FIRE's Regional Urban Forester, Henry Herrera

Research:
Tree Equity Research Question

Upcoming Events:
Urban Forest Connections Webinar:
March 9 | 10AM

Spring Partners Meeting
Save the Date | March 17

Naturally Latinos Conference
March 22-26
LA Urban Center's
Quarterly Newsletter


The Los Angeles Center for Urban Natural Resources Sustainability, or the “LA Urban Center,” is an information and research destination hub aimed at fostering collaboration, generating new science, delivering information and technology to aid application, and engaging diverse communities and knowledge bases through shared learning.

Our quarterly newsletter allows us to share all the amazing projects and people that make up our research hub.

What to know more about the LA Urban Center?
Check out our Strategic Plan.

Connecting People to Our Urban Environment with Science...
Join LA Urban Center's Executive Oversight Team
Applications are now open for new EOT members!

Advisory functions for the LA Urban Center are provided through an Executive Oversight Team (EOT), and we are currently recruiting for more partners to join this dynamic and important team!

EOT members serve as an advisory and recommending body, representing the unique issues, needs, capabilities, and opportunities of their represented sector.

The EOT also recommends potential outreach activities and strategic partnerships for the LA Urban Center and provides recommendations and input on how the LA Urban Center can best contribute to the region and support its partner organizations.

The Team ideally consists of (but not limited to) representatives from each of the following sectors:

  • USDA Forest Service
  • City of Los Angeles
  • State of California Urban & Community Forestry
  • Private Industry
  • Regional Urban Forestry Non-Profit Organization
  • Youth Outreach, Environmental Justice, and/or Environmental Literacy
  • Academia/Research

The EOT establishes an annual plan of work informed through our strategic plan, our network of partners, and through formal and informal input from stakeholders.

Does this sound like something you would be interested in being a part of? Apply today! Applications are now open for new members.

To access the online application, please visit:
Contact us with any questions or if you have any issues with submission process.

Continue reading below learn more about what its like to actually be a part of the Executive Oversight Team through our Partner Spotlight interview with a long-standing EOT member!
Henry Herrera
Join us in learning more about our CAL FIRE Regional Urban Forester

With applications now open for new partners to join our Executive Oversight Team, we thought we would give a shout out to one of our long-standing members, Henry Herrera, CAL FIRE's regional urban forester for Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Let's see what he has to say:

Why did you decide to join LA Urban Center's EOT? 

The mission of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s (CAL FIRE) Urban and Community Forestry Program is to lead the effort to advance the development of sustainable urban and community forests in California. Membership in the EOT allows me to achieve this mission by collaborating with local, state, federal, private, non-profit, and community partners that are working toward a common goal of urban natural resources management, socioecological resilience, and equitable benefit. 

What part of being a member of the EOT would surprise most people? 

Perhaps what may be surprising to some is that as a member of the EOT we advise and recommend approaches to serving the urban forestry needs of residents not just in L.A. County but also the other southern California communities including but not limited to communities in Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, and San Diego counties.

What is the most rewarding part of being a member of EOT? 

The most rewarding part of being a member of the EOT is bringing environmental equity, through the presence of trees, to communities with the greatest need and helping maintain the equity in communities that have achieved it. Tree canopy cover provides numerous benefits for people, including economic, social, and health. 
What do you do when you aren’t working? 

I spend as much time as possible with my five-year-old son, three-year-old daughter and wife of eight years. We enjoy learning, playing around the house, visiting theme parks and spending time outdoors playing in the snow, hiking or working in the yard. 

What is the biggest misconception of the work you do?

As a forester, one misperception I come across is that some people think I have a really easy job consisting of driving around forests, counting bears and wandering the woods. In reality, my job is very complex, challenging and rewarding. Whether its working on urban forestry projects, conducting environmental reviews and surveys, or responding to wildfires, I get to do it all as a CAL FIRE forester. 
Tree Equity Research Update
What's the relationship between changes in LA's urban forest and "gentrification"?

Our researchers are asking just that! The LA Urban Center (Francisco Escobedo), USFS-PSW (Natalie Van Doorn and Alyssa Thomas), Davey Resource (Erika Teach) and the University of Alabama (Christine Staudhammer- born and raised Angeleno) are using permanent urban forest monitoring plot data taken in 2007 and 2017 plus socio-demographic, property value, and other environmental data to study how urban forests have changed in areas that have gentrified, or are in the process of gentrification.

Results will determine how tree, shrub and palm size, composition, diversity and cover have changed in these areas. Finding should also provide information on how benefits from urban forests are changing and if indeed gentrification is driving changes to urban forests in Los Angeles. 

Stay Tuned!
Urban Forest Connections Webinar Series
Did you know that the USDA Forest Service hosts a free monthly webinar series?

Join the conversation every second Wednesday | 10:00 - 11:15 AM PST (1:00 - 2:15 pm ET)

The Forest Service's Urban Forest Connections webinar series brings experts together to discuss the latest science, practice, and policy on urban forestry and the environment. These webinars are open to all.

Past webinar presentations and recordings are available on the website.
Spring Partners Meeting
Save the Date

Thursday | March 17, 2022
Angeles National Forest Supervisors' Office

This will be a hybrid event with the option to participate in person as well as online.

Stay tuned for more details coming soon!
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Shout out to our partner sponsored Latinx focused conference happening next month!
The 4th Naturally Latinos Conference runs five days from Tuesday, March 22 through Saturday, March 26. You’ll engage with amazing keynote speakers, panelists, environmental advocates, government officials, journalists, community members, artists, and others. Learn how even when times are challenging, we can look forward to a new world of possibilities. Visit anshome.org/naturally-latinos for more details and updates.
LA Urban Center Calendar
Stay connected with everything happening at the LA Urban Center!
We keep our online calendar up-to-date with events and activities, including our monthly webinar series.
The LA Urban Center operates through a partnership among the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region and Research Station and the City of Los Angeles (City Plants and Recreation and Parks). Joining in this collaboration are the many Federal, State, and local government partners as well as academia, industry, private, and non-profit organizations concerned with urban natural resources and socioecological resilience. Meet Our Partners Here.