Food forest projects have been taking root in multiple U.S. cities. In Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Philadelphia, Seattle and elsewhere, groups have partnered with local communities to cultivate layers of edible plants on public parkland, in empty lots and along roadsides. Their champions say that in addition to food, these forests offer a host of climate and environmental benefits. "It's the most hopeful form of land management that I've heard about," said Lincoln Smith, founder of Forested, a 10-acre experimental forest garden in Bowie, Maryland. Just down the road from a private golf course, beyond a gate made of rough-hewn branches and chicken wire, lies a dense thicket of trees. A rustic fence, obscured by greenery, keeps deer from gorging on the smorgasbord of nuts, berries, and other fruits and edible plants growing in Smith's forest garden. The food forest's benefits can also be gauged by the number of nonhuman visitors. Small butterflies and moths fluttered among the greenery, while birds chirped from inside thick treetops. Bumblebees and honeybees swarmed an anise hyssop, crawling all over the plant's lavender stalks. Beyond increasing people's access to fresh food and nature, and serving as wildlife habitats, these forest ecosystems can sequester carbon and help improve water quality. "You can see photos of this place from when it was a cornfield and know that runoff has been drastically reduced and carbon is being accumulated in the soil," Smith said.