Article by Molly Codding, MPH, Community Environmental Justice Coordinator | DNR – Urban and Community Forestry Program
Molly Codding is a community forestry researcher, environmental advocate, and public health professional dedicated to breaking down silos and assisting in collective action for the health of communities and the environment. Her passions lie at the intersection of nature and health, and she believes that people deserve to thrive in just and equitable systems. Before joining the DNR, she worked at the Urban Forest Outreach and Research Nursery and Lab at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and completed her Master’s in Public Health at the University of Washington-Seattle. In 2022, the Urban and Community Forestry Program hired Molly Codding as our Community Environmental Justice coordinator, a new position within the Minnesota DNR.
Environmental justice refers to the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income concerning the development, implementation, and enforcement of laws, regulations, and policies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture adds that environmental justice also includes the opportunity for all populations to comment on environmental decisions made by government programs to assist communities in securing prosperity. Environmental injustice intersects many parts of daily life and affects housing, health, education, transportation, and economic opportunities for historically marginalized communities. In recent years, federal and state executive orders have mandated state agencies, including the DNR, to incorporate environmental justice principles in our policies, programming, and community engagement initiatives.
Systemic injustice stems from policy and planning decisions that disproportionately impact Black Indigenous and Persons of Color (BIPOC), persons with lower socioeconomic status, and other marginalized groups. For example, people of color, especially Black and Indigenous communities, experienced discrimination from redlining policies. Historically racist lending and housing practices began in the 1940s and resulted in segregated neighborhoods in cities and suburbs throughout the United States. Disinvestment in redlined neighborhoods results in a host of environmental inequities, including significantly less tree canopy compared to zones occupied by majority white, affluent residents. Redlining effects are felt today. In traditionally segregated neighborhoods, residents experience significantly higher land surface temperatures that contribute to increased risk of heat sickness and death, higher cooling costs, and reduced resiliency to climate change. Reduced investment in built and green infrastructure hinders a community’s ability to effectively tackle canopy issues on public and private property. For these reasons, local units of government, regional bodies, and state agencies must work with communities to find solutions that counteract unjust systems.
In 2020, stemming from the murder of George Floyd and public outcry against systemic injustice, the USDA Forest Service approached Minnesota DNR about improving canopy inequities that BIPOC experience across the state. In collaboration with a community environmental justice consultant, Minnesota Tree Trust, and Forest Service staff, the DNR’s Urban and Community Forestry (UCF) team developed a position to coordinate the state's efforts to incorporate environmental justice throughout our Cooperative Forest Management and UCF programs. As the state's first Community Environmental Justice coordinator, my responsibilities include:
fostering meaningful relationships with communities experiencing environmental injustice,
improving the delivery of DNR UCF programming to community-prioritized canopy projects,
identifying gaps in employment pathways for underrepresented populations in community forestry careers, and
encouraging holistic community engagement in land use and management decisions.
I believe that local, regional, and state foresters and arborists can equally deliver our community forests' ecosystem service benefits in ways that reflect community values and respect the cultural knowledge and lived experiences of community members.
In my first three months, meetings with DNR staff, community groups, nonprofits, external forestry professionals, and state agencies have helped me better understand the inequity challenges we face not only across the Twin Cities Metro Area but also across the state. These conversations also serve as the foundation for establishing community-driven priorities. I am learning a lot about the work my colleagues have undertaken to address environmental injustice here in Minnesota and their wisdom about moving this work forward. I am also encouraged by the overlap in community priorities and the DNR’s mission to cooperate with Minnesotans to conserve and manage our state's natural resources and provide enriching outdoor experiences.
Community forestry work continues to be challenged by climate change, existing and emerging canopy threats, increased workforce demands, fickle budgets, the balance of development and conservation, and the systemic causes of environmental inequities. Community members possess valuable insights into greening work happening in their neighborhoods, and the ways they care for their urban canopy. Their unique lived experiences can assist forestry professionals as we strive to maintain our legacy of responsive and evolving canopy management. Often, community efforts are insufficiently funded, rely on grassroots volunteerism, and are burdened by red tape. A lack of engagement in land use decisions adds to disenfranchisement often felt by communities with environmental justice concerns.
I am grateful that our state, with the help of the Forest Service, is investing to counteract this narrative and foster trust in relationships with communities. One of the most important steps to establish healthy relationships with environmental justice communities is to acknowledge our position as outsiders who are asking for community energy and time. We all may have participated in these inequitable systems, whether we know it or not. From here, we can be mindful of reciprocity, mutual respect, and valuing community input.
Over the next three years, I’ll be working with foresters, community members, and decision-making bodies across the state to advance environmental justice, and I’m excited about where these partnerships will take us. Only through cooperation, collaboration, and meaningful engagement can we hope to address these challenges effectively.
Captions/Credit:
1. Title: Community Planting event. Caption: Building relationships and listening to community priorities for tree equity initiatives are building blocks for realizing environmental justice in the Twin Cities and throughout Minnesota (Image Credit: MNDNR, 2019)
2. Title: Tree Cover Inequities in Minneapolis, St. Paul. Caption: New investments in data tools, tree equity campaigns, and community-centered approaches are being made at the local, regional, and state level. One new tool from the Met Council, Growing Shade, helps stakeholders visualize the impact of canopy loss and canopy inequity to inform more equitable canopy planting and maintenance decisions. (Image Credit: Star Tribune, 2022)