The city of L.A.’s first city forest officer, Rachel Malarich, opines on her new role in facilitating cooperation between the city’s departments to achieve a more equitable urban canopy.
At the 2019 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen, Mayor Eric Garcetti—a strong proponent of Trees as Infrastructure—was elected Chair of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, succeeding the Mayor of Paris in the role. VXNews, in keeping with the mayor’s city and global agenda, interviewed the vity of L.A.’s first city forest officer, Rachel Malarich, who is tasked with overseeing the city’s urban forest management and guiding the city to goal on its plan for planting 90,000 trees by 2021.
Malarich opines on her role in facilitating cooperation between the City’s departments to achieve a more equitable urban canopy that benefits the communities that 'need it most.':
"There’s the fire department that does brush clearance. There’s Streets LA that takes care of our street trees. Recs and Parks takes care of park trees. But, as Mayor Garcetti says, trees are living infrastructure and, from my perspective, need to be maintained in a more coordinated way."
Read the full interview at VerdeXchange News.
FULL STORY: LA's First City Forest Officer Rachel Malarich Tasked With Treating Trees As Living Infrastructure
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
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HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research