Photo left, graduate student Stuart Foote inputs data with fellow student
Sonny Davis assisting.
Photo right, Foote studies the aerial maps of the 22 Bexar County sites.
Alamo Forest Partnership/UTSA tree study results announced
(Nov. 13, 2002)--A nine-month study conducted by the Alamo Forest Partnership including University of Texas at San Antonio assistant science professor Steve Brown and his graduate students Sonny Davis and Stuart Foote reveals San Antonio has lost significant tree cover over the past 15 years.
According to the study, the San Antonio region saw a 39 percent decline in heavy tree cover from 63,522 acres in 1985 to 38,753 acres in 2001. American Forest's Urban Forest Center in Washington, D.C. recommends the region develop a strategy for increasing its tree cover in this decade.
Brown and his students trained volunteers to conduct tree surveys and compiled the results using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. The study covered four counties, including 22 sites in Bexar County.
"Both of these students contributed over 100 hours of their own time without receiving any class credit or compensation for their work," said Brown. " I think UTSA and the four participating counties owe them a debt of gratitude, because without their efforts, the study would not have been completed."
San Antonio Express-News story
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© The University of Texas at San Antonio, 2002