Each year, the ACEC Engineering Excellence Awards recognize projects that demonstrate innovation, collaboration, and meaningful impact for the communities they serve.
Straughan is proud to have received an Honor Award from ACEC/MD for the Parkland Forest Management Plans and Natural Resource Inventories project completed for Baltimore City Recreation & Parks, Urban Forestry Division.
Baltimore’s urban forests play a vital role in the city’s resilience and quality of life. These landscapes help manage stormwater, improve air quality, reduce urban heat, and provide important recreational space for residents. Yet they also face increasing pressures from invasive species, climate change, and urban development.
To help address these challenges, Straughan partnered with City Forestry to develop Forest Management Plans for three major parks, Druid Hill Park, Herring Run Park, and Cylburn Arboretum, along with Natural Resource Inventories for seven additional parks, covering more than 850 acres of forested parkland across Baltimore’s park system.
A Data-Driven Approach to Urban Forest Stewardship
Understanding forest health at this scale required a modern, technology-driven approach. The project integrated advanced GIS tools, mobile data collection, and drone imagery to capture detailed ecological information across the park system.
During fieldwork, the team:
- Surveyed 680 plots and 124 transects
- Collected 75+ ecological parameters per plot
- Integrated field data into a centralized GIS geodatabase
- Developed automated QA/QC workflows to support efficient data processing
Together, these efforts provided Baltimore City with its clearest and most comprehensive understanding of forest health across its parkland system.
From Data to Action
The resulting plans provide a 10-year roadmap for forest management, including strategies for invasive species control, forest regeneration, and climate adaptation.
Healthier urban forests provide real benefits for Baltimore residents, improving air quality, helping manage stormwater, providing shade and cooling, and creating welcoming public spaces for recreation and community connection.
A Model for Urban Forest Planning
Beyond Baltimore, the methodology developed through this project offers strong potential for replication. By combining ecological science, geospatial technology, and practical planning strategies, the project demonstrates how modern data tools can support long-term stewardship of urban natural resources.
Straughan is honored to support Baltimore City in protecting and strengthening the health of its urban forests for generations to come.
Healthy urban forests are essential to resilient cities, and we are proud to support Baltimore’s ongoing stewardship of these vital natural resources.