Lawrence is no stranger to environmental sustainability.
Fort Harrison State Park, one of Central Indiana’s largest hardwood forests, calls the city home. And a few years ago, Lawrence planted 5 acres of native gardens in the city’s parks to help attract pollinators.
Now, Lawrence is working to protect the city’s urban forest with the help of an Indiana University graduate student.
Taylor Stout, a McKinney Climate Fellow from Indiana University, will help create the city’s first urban forestry master plan. Her work will be part of the Urban Green Governance Cohort, a program from the Indiana University Environmental Resilience Institute.
Lawrence was one of four Indiana cities selected for the cohort. The goal is to help local governments strengthen urban forest initiatives, increase competitiveness for future forestry project funding and ensure all residents can benefit from a sustainable community.
City trees have many benefits
Trees are important to city infrastructure.
“The trees in cities are actually functioning as individual units that are creating multiple benefits,” said Sarah Mincey, the managing director for the Environmental Resilience Institute.
Mincey said trees help manage stormwater runoff, provide habitats for different organisms and help cool down the environment.
Trees also have many health benefits. They can help improve cardiovascular and pulmonary health and even boost mental health.
“When we create environments with trees where people can be more comfortable outside, we build the capacity for social connections to occur,” Mincey said. “And social connections are an indirect pathway to improved mental health.”
Those health benefits are important to Lawrence. Last year, Mayor Deb Whitfield announced the Live Longer in Lawrence initiative, a city-wide campaign to improve the health of residents.
“This is just another one of the several environmental initiatives that we have embarked upon as we look for a cleaner and more resilient environment that leads to a healthier community and leading to longer life expectancy,” Whitfield said.
Pendleton Pike is a priority
Stout started her work with the city last month. Her first task was to learn about the current state of trees around Lawrence. The city doesn’t have a tree inventory, so she spent the first week driving around to see what types of trees can be found.
She said most of the trees she found were in good condition, especially for being in an urban area. But many are in need of maintenance, like pruning or re-mulching. And many of the city’s trees are older.
On one hand, she said, mature trees offer many benefits such as shade and stormwater management.
“However, as they continue to age, we just need to make sure we have enough young trees that are going to be maturing at the same rate that the older ones are dying out,” Stout said.
As she conducted her research, she found that the southern part of the city has fewer trees and green spaces than others, specifically in the area around Pendleton Pike and Post Road.
“It’s also the hottest part of the city,” Stout said. “Not unsurprisingly, it’s also the part of the city that has the most minorities. And it’s also the part of the city that has the most renters instead of homeowners.”
Stout wants to make that area a priority.
She said more affluent neighborhoods often have healthier trees due to continued investment and sustainability efforts. She hopes her work in Lawrence changes that.
“How do we bring in these communities that have been left out for so long?” Stout said. “And how do we build trust with them when a lot of them have felt left out of big planning and environmental decision making processes?”
What the work will look like
Community engagement will play a big role in the creation of the city’s urban forestry master plan, Stout said.
She plans to connect with residents at farmers markets, libraries and just by knocking on doors.
“We want to involve them in the process so that they feel like the trees are really theirs,” Stout said. “We want to set the people and the trees up for success.”
The city also created a task force of Lawrence residents that Stout will be working with this summer.
At their first meeting, the task force brought up the need for more education around trees. Stout said many people unknowingly plant harmful trees or don’t know the difference between native and invasive plants.
“Most people just think that green is good and it doesn’t matter what you plant, as long as you’re planting,” Stout said. “But it’s really important to understand the difference between what you’re planting and being intentional with where you’re putting it. We like to say ‘right tree, right place.’”
The master plan could include plans to implement tree ordinances for the city, maintenance guidelines or the creation of a committee to oversee the city’s trees. In addition to the master plan, Lawrence will be given trees to plant in the fall. In the meantime, Stout encourages residents to share their concerns and ideas with her.
“I can only make so many maps and read so much online,” Stout said. “The real important information is from people.”
If you would like to connect with Stout, she can be reached at tstout@cityoflawrence.org
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Mirror Indy reporter Darian Benson covers east Indianapolis. Contact her at 317-397-7262 or darian.benson@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X @HelloImDarian or on Bluesky @darianbenson.bsky.social.
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