Students from this spring’s Urban Forestry Graduate Seminar (Forestry 697U) completed a field visit to Springfield’s urban core greenspaces on April 15, 2010. The informal session traveled through an urbanized neighborhood of the city, examining the natural features of the landscape, as they contribute to the quality of the urban ecosystem, as well as city life for Springfield’s residents. The field trip included stops at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, overlooking the city skyline of Springfield, the Federal Courthouse, featuring two of the City’s oldest trees, the Dr. Suess National Greenspace, and Court Square, one of the nation’s oldest public open space. Court Square is the location of the new UMass Design Center, which will include participation and contribution by students and faculty of the Department of Natural Resources Conservation.The walking tour provided the class with a practical view of Springfield’s urban forest, which is the subject of the class’s semester project, “The State of Springfield’s Urban Forest”. This study and report utilized the USDA Forest Service’s i-Tree STREETS software program that provides a benefit–‐cost analysis of urbanized greenspaces.
The completed report will be available for review and download via the web at www.unri.org/springfield. For additional information, please contact Dave Bloniarz at