The New York City Parks and Recreation Department is being criticized for continuing to use Amazonian Ipe wood for its park benches and boardwalks.
"[F]or New Yorkers, many pleasant experiences the city has to offer bring us unwittingly closer to the obliteration of the most ecologically dynamic part of the world -- the Amazonian rain forest.
Where do those miles and miles of wooden boardwalks, benches and handrails on Coney Island and Hudson River Park come from? What about the bench you lounge on, sipping coffee in a quiet corner of Central Park? According to environmental scientist Tim Keating, New York City's Department of Parks and Recreation is the biggest destroyer of rain forests in America and has been for years. So much for Mayor Michael Bloomberg's new "green" persona.
Pressure from environmentalists resulted in an increasing number of cities and states in the United States and abroad passing ordinances to ban the use of tropical wood in government projects. San Francisco banned the use of tropical hardwoods for municipal projects in 1990. Five years later, Los Angeles passed a purchasing policy restricting the use of tropical hardwoods by city government.
Numerous other visionary city and state governments have followed suit. Long Beach passed an ordinance declaring they would use only wood harvested from well-managed forests, certified as environmentally and socially-sustainably felled by the Forest Stewardship Council.
But the market for Ipé wood drives much of the industrial logging of the entire Amazon, and has increased dramatically in the past 20 years. An emergent flowering tree, which peppers the canopy of the Amazonian rainforest in hues of pink, magenta, yellow and white, Ipé grows in the rainforests at densities of only one or two trees an acre. This means that vast areas of the forests are razed to the ground to feed the market for a single tree. It is estimated that, for every Ipé tree cut, 28 other trees must be cut and are thrown away. For New York City's 10 miles of boardwalk alone, over 110,500 acres (130 square miles) of old growth Amazon rainforest were logged."
FULL STORY: New York City Is One of the Biggest Destroyers of the Amazon Rainforest

San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.

Has President Trump Met His Match?
Doug Ford, the no-nonsense premier of Canada's most populous province, Ontario, is taking on Trump where it hurts — making American energy more expensive.

Study: London ULEZ Rapidly Cleaning up Air Pollution
Expanding the city’s ultra low-emission zone has resulted in dramatic drops in particle emissions in inner and outer London.

The Unseen Aftermath: Wildfires’ Lasting Health and Emotional Burden
Wildfires in Los Angeles not only pose immediate physical health risks but also lead to long-term respiratory problems and mental health struggles, underscoring the need for a coordinated public health response to mitigate their lasting effects.

Public Parks as Climate Resilience Tools
Designed with green infrastructure, parks can mitigate flooding, reduce urban heat, and enhance climate resilience, offering cost-effective solutions to environmental challenges while benefiting communities.

What the Proposed Federal Budget Means for Transit, Rail
The proposed FY 2025 budget keeps spending for public transit and passenger rail essentially the same as in 2024.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Resource Assistance for Rural Environments
City of Edmonds
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research