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with a “homesteader grandfather who was nutty for horses.” His father, employed only part time through the Depression-era Works Progress Administration, intro-duced him to the West’s national parks on extended fishing and camping adventures through Montana, Idaho, and Oregon. “This became a significant part of my identity,” says Burch. So much so that he would devote his doc-toral thesis at the University of Minnesota to the subject. For Burch, the study of wilderness, recreation and family together-ness was a way to reveal the united States’ ongoing political and historical dance with our en-vironment and to foster a sense of humility and cooperation with the natural world.

His appreciation for the “other side of the American story” was sharpened during his years as an undergraduate at the University of Oregon during the late 1950s. Working as a janitor and window cleaner to supplement his stu-dent loans, Burch was unable to resist taking up the cause of his fellow workers, whom he felt were badly underpaid. He be-came president of a Building Ser-vices Local union, organizing local union groups and urging employees to get involved. “You recognize the stress and the diffi-culty of their situation. There are a lot of folks worse off than you, and you have responsibilities

BILL BURCH IS REVERED FOR his humility and kindness as well as groundbreaking work in urban forestry.

How do we use our potential for better survival and opportu-nity? Bill Burch is thrilled by questions like this.

A groundbreaker in the com-munity forestry movement and in particular the field of urban

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ecology, Burch has revitalized communities and empowered vulnerable populations. His keen focus on the human dimension of forestry has earned him a rep-utation as a consummate com-munity builder as well as a hum-ble and beloved teacher and colleague.

As Frederick C. Hixon Profes-sor Emeritus of Natural Resource Management and Senior Re-search Scientist at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Burch was the first direc-tor of Yale’s Tropical Resources Institute and Urban Resource Ini-tiative. He has held numerous so-cial science and research man-agement appointments with the US Forest Service, National Park Service and Connecticut Depart-ment of Environmental Protec-tion and has been a grantee on projects in Asia and Latin Amer-ica sponsored by US AID, The Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Wild-life Fund. His innovative work on community forestry systems in-cludes projects throughout South-east Asia as well as the parks and open spaces of Baltimore, Mary-land; New Haven, Connecticut; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

A HEART AS BIG AS THE WORLD

Burch grew up walking in the woods near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho,

Bill BurchUrban Forestry Pioneer, Compassionate Community Builder

Above: Bill Burch, Blanchard, Maine. Right: Burch and friends. “The dogs reflect the story of how black and white – well, grey — can survive in the wilderness.”

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says. At a time when there had been little faith in urban vitality, Burch adjusted the lens, viewing cities as ecosystems composed of multiple watersheds, and viewing maintenance crews as community foresters who would have the skills to map, organize, and work with individual neighborhoods.

The Baltimore URI, and soon after that initiatives in New Haven and Philadelphia, would give rise to a new kind of ecol-ogy that recognized the distinc-tive features, challenges, and promises found in the urban set-ting. In 1997, the National Sci-ence Foundation would acknowl-edge this movement by funding the nation’s first urban long-term research sites, one of which would be the Baltimore Ecosys-tem Study. Today there are 26 urban long-term sites in the United States.

School of Forestry students with their bags packed for Far East locales were persuaded in the generous and good-natured way that only Burch could per-suade them, to stay local and work with URI. On both sides of the world, people were dispos-sessed of the land, he told them. In both places people needed to be empowered to take ownership of their environments. Moreover, much of what we learn from US cities can reveal meaningful les-sons about how we investigate rural villages. Burch promised one graduate student, “Every-thing you wanted to do in Laos or Thailand you can do in Balti-more.” Morgan Grove would join Burch as Co-Principal Investiga-tor of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study. Twenty-five years later, he is still overseeing the project.

In places like Nepal and Northern Philippines, communi-ties are naturally bound to their environments, says Burch. “In

In 1983, Burch was named Founding Director of Yale’s new Tropical Resources Institute (TRI), an enterprise that would provide generations of students with opportunities to promote environmental stewardship through research, outreach, and conservation management. Today, TRI continues to flourish, facilitating hundreds of in-country collaborations and partnerships with organizations working throughout tropical regions.

“YOU’VE GOT TO DO THAT HERE!”

Burch enthusiastically shared all that he was learning overseas about the potential for parks and green space to support and ener-gize local communities—and it was during one such discussion that a colleague handed him his aha moment. As a member of a conference panel on US national parks, Burch was describing the work he was doing with the Insti-tute of Forestry in Nepal, training government staff to work with the community.

A fellow panel member named Ralph Jones, who had just been appointed Director of Baltimore Recreation and Parks, turned to me and shouted, “Why aren’t you doing that with my parks department?”

So Burch, who had never been to Baltimore, did just that, work-ing with Jones and Yale School of Forestry Dean John Gordon to establish the Yale Urban Re-source Initiative (URI).

Ralph Jones’ unexpected death shortly after this meeting com-pelled Burch to see the effort through. “We worked from the script of the community forestry work and launched a partnership with the city of Baltimore,” Burch

because you are a university stu-dent. You have to step up.” Burch and his wife Judith befriended many other student couples in their Eugene neighborhood, in-cluding an African American man married to a white woman. When the couple had a stillbirth and were not allowed to bury the child in Oregon, the Burches be-came surrogate parents so that the child could be buried there. As in life, Burch’s work would be distinguished by a powerful sense of empathy and service.

In the decades to come, themes generated by the civil rights and environmental move-ments would resonate for Burch, sharpening his understanding of people’s dependence upon their communities as safe havens and spaces for work, recreation and gathering. In the wake of the race riots of the 1960s,

communities were struggling, suddenly dispossessed of their neighborhoods. My interests moved closer to issues of equity in access to public services.

Burch’s extensive work throughout Southeast Asia and other developing regions fol-lowed, as he felt there was much to learn from communities who depended so deeply upon their environments. As a grantee on projects sponsored by such orga-nizations as the World Wildlife Fund, USAID, and the Ford and MacArthur Foundations, Burch worked with governments, schools, and local populations, to provide residents with the ability to tend and sustain the resources they needed for survival. De-voted to supporting those whose lives depended on the forest, Burch says, “I was like Willie Loman in Southeast Asia, trying to market community-based nat-ural resources management.”

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these were people who shared her principals and were just try-ing to maintain a life. The next time I saw her she was dancing in the streets—just enjoying the fact that she had such a contri-bution to make.

Self-proclaimed “Burch-o-philes,” many of whom would become his colleagues, refer to Burch as the ultimate teacher, humble, generous, and possess-ing a profound understanding of the human condition. In the tru-est spirit of public health, Bill Burch is guided by the people he hopes to serve, taught by his stu-dents, and energized by unex-pected turns in the road.

He would shepherd his students not for months but for years—so wanting you to be successful. He is very humble. He would tell his students, “You need to recog-nize this as a mutual path of learning. You need to learn from the community about their pri-orities. They have a lot to teach you about how things work in their community.” He brought this richness of observing a place—such a broad, encompass-ing way of looking at the land-scape. Hundreds of students have learned from him how to rethink how we work in this field. –Colleen Murphy Dunning, Director, Urban Resources Initia-tive, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies

Bill more than anything helped me to see the beauty in urban areas. We’d walk through New York City or Philadelphia and he would express the wonder of a child alongside the under-standing of a great master. He continuously marvels at the way in which human and natural systems interact. I can’t enter a new place without seeing the patterns that Bill has taught me to look for. –Marc Stern, Associ-ate Professor, Department of Forest Resources and Environ-mental Conservation, Virginia Tech

He is empathic and inspirational and fiery. He has stuck with me through time as a friend and a mentor. I have a great deal of

gratitude. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without him. –Morgan Grove, US Forest Service Research Sci-entist, Co-Principal Investigator, Baltimore Ecosystem Study

Bill Burch has taught us that from the get go it’s always about the people. In the end, our actions can improve the en-vironment–engaging conserva-tion and restoration activities are so critical—but only as they improve the lives of people. He sees people as agents of positive change, with the ability to orga-nize and improve things. –Erika Svendson, US Forest Service Research Social Scientist and Co-Director of the NYC Urban Field Station

His work on awareness of peo-ple and especially vulnerable populations when it comes to greening the city resonates with those of us seeking to improve population health and well-be-ing. He is also a humble and brilliant colleague, who is un-failingly kind and respectful to those of us he mentors and guides. –Mary E. Northridge, Editor in Chief, American Jour-nal of Public Health

Bill is first and foremost not cynical. He believes in what he is doing and he believes there are answers to things. I’ve worked with him in underdevel-oped and troubled areas. His engaging lectures are not at the expense of realism—he insists on a certain level of academic rigor. But you also have to believe, and things can be done. –Russell Barbour, Associ-ate Director for Statistics and Data Management at the Yale Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Aids

About the AuthorAlyson Geller is a freelance writer and edi-tor who has covered public health issues such as healthy cities, tobacco control, health care access, and women’s health.

Correspondence should be sent to Alyson Geller, e-mail: alysong1@comcast.net. Re-prints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the “Reprints” link.

This article was accepted August 12, 2014.

doi:10.2105/AJPH.2014.302269

social gathering place and also a long-term a project requiring many hands to maintain it.

Student interns also were re-quired to teach nature education to children—to build a base of kids who would then educate their parents about things like lit-tering and conserving water. (“Kids are great for changing their parents.”)

As people reclaimed their neighborhoods, social isolation diminished. “You knew who lived in the house next door,” says Burch. “And it’s where people know and look after each other that they have a greater chance of surviving.”

TEACHING COMPASSION

Adopting the role of commu-nity forester would require many of Burch’s students to leave their comfort zones. “To get people out of the academic mix and into situ-ations they would not normally enter into – that was a major part of their education – learning how to adapt,” says Burch. “That is what you had to do if you were going to try to rebuild communi-ties from the ground up.” An ad-vocate of healthy skepticism (though never cynicism) he en-couraged his students to question authority, “especially their own,” and open their minds to options they might not have considered. Always he listened and supported them, with characteristic kindness, enthusiasm, and compassion.

Remembering one student who seemed reluctant to venture out of the office and into the neighborhood Burch says,

I told her she had to dip her foot into the dark waters if she was going to learn anything. So we went out together to talk with the local people. We found her a partner in the local com-munity. And she learned that

Nepal, you’re trying to farm on cliffs. The terrace is a critical part of the mountain ecology.” Com-munities are driven together by the seasons, by religion, by shared challenges, and this helps them to whether the calamities, he says. “They get through by working with each other and get-ting an answer.” For Burch, the landscape of the city would like-wise hold the potential to unify and support its communities.

SITTING ON THE STOOP

Baltimore’s neighborhoods blossomed under the URI. The discovery of more effective water systems would lead to a reduc-tion in polluted runoff and more productive tree planting. Over time, sidewalks were canopied in shade and native songbirds set-tled in. Still, says Burch, gardens and parks were not the end, but “critical tools for bringing people together who didn’t usually talk to each other.” The most vibrant renewal would be shaped by the hands of community members as they worked with each other to address challenges.

Burch sent his students to Bal-timore’s front stoops, where they would be encouraged to sit by people’s sides and listen. “You’re not there to tell people what to do,” says Burch. “You’re there to ask questions and provide facili-tation and skills. And in chatting with people you’ll find that other things come up.”

Residents were asked to iden-tify their most pressing chal-lenges and brainstorm solutions. Students worked to connect them to government agencies, local businesses and with each other. In this way, neighborhood resi-dents transformed a trash-strewn lot into a community garden both sustaining and colorful—a