To: Honorable Chair and Members of the Recreation and Park Commission
RECOMMENDATION
To Review and Comment on the Urban Forest Plan and Implementation.
From: Justin Long, Recreation and Parks Director
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report summarizes current efforts to update the Urban Forest Plan (UFP) and seeks City Council feedback on the draft UFP vision, goals, and strategies, as well as on the phased implementation of the canopy goals. The UFP will update the City of Alameda’s (City) existing 2010 Master Street Tree Plan (MSTP) and expand the scope to include park trees, and trees on private and other non-City of Alameda properties. Thus, Alameda’s MSTP will become the Urban Forest Plan.
BACKGROUND
In October 2022, City Council approved entering into an agreement with Dudek to prepare a comprehensive citywide UFP. An update and expansion of the 2010 Master Street Tree Plan as an Urban Forest Plan and expanding the urban forest was identified as an action item in the City’s Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (CARP) for the purpose of achieving goals related to carbon sequestration. This draft UFP is intended to guide management of the urban forest for the next ten years.
Trees and Environmental Benefits
Trees provide many benefits to Alameda. Trees enhance the mental and physical health of city residents and beautify and define neighborhood characteristics. Trees enhance the environment by removing pollution and cleaning the air. Trees reduce stormwater runoff, improve water quality and support wildlife. As temperatures increase due to climate change, trees sequester carbon, provide shade, and reduce the surrounding air temperature and thus building energy consumption for cooling. Shaded surfaces can be 20 to 40 degrees cooler than unshaded areas. These services contribute directly to community members’ quality of life and public health.
Trees also sequester carbon that contributes to climate change. Alameda’s urban forest removes 447 tons of carbon dioxide from the air each year, which is equivalent to removing 300 cars from the city’s streets. The air pollution removed by Alameda’s urban forest is equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions of 9,880 tons of burned coal each year. As the city pursues other greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions methods through implementation of the Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (CARP), the urban forest can serve as an offset for the emissions produced by other sectors as such transportation and buildings, while also potentially reducing energy demand and encouraging active transportation.
A healthy and robust urban forest requires continued long-term investment. The UFP will guide the City's operations and activities to expand and maintain the tree canopy for the next 10 years. The City’s UFP is intended to be strategic in advancing social equity and contributing to an improved quality of life by providing the benefits of urban tree canopy to all community members, which includes improvement of overall emotional and psychological health, and improvement of physical health.
The City manages 25,962 park and street trees, consisting of 353 different species. The London plane sycamore is the most common City tree comprising 15.8% of the inventory. Many more trees are managed by private residents, businesses and other landowners. Citywide, the urban forest canopy (the layer of leaves, branches and stems that cover the ground when viewed from above) covers 11.2% of land across Alameda, ranging from 5.1% to 20.9% by census tract, with lower income census tracts generally having fewer trees. Alameda’s urban forest sequesters 447 tons on carbon annually, avoids 4 million gallons of stormwater runoff, and removes 8.8 tons of air pollution (ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter < 2.5 µm) annually. A focus of the UFP is on creating a robust tree canopy that is equitably distributed across neighborhoods to create a healthier, more resilient community with enhanced environmental benefits.
Urban Forest Plan In the Context of Achieving CARP Goals
While maintaining and expanding the urban forest offers important environmental and community benefits, the UFP is one component of the City’s comprehensive climate strategy rather than a primary tool for reducing greenhouse gases. Other strategies in the CARP, such as promoting transition to electric vehicles (EVs), encouraging multi-modal transportation options, and improving energy efficiency in buildings, can also result in achieving significant GHG reductions. Therefore, as the City Council and community evaluate the cost and benefits of the UFP from a GHG perspective, it is important to understand the other CARP strategies may yield equivalent greenhouse gas reductions.
Community Engagement
The UFP was developed using a robust community engagement process that included the following activities:
• Student Earth Day letter writing activity to encourage urban forest advocacy in children and teenagers.
• Public tree survey that was circulated online and in-person (839 responses).
• Three public outreach events aimed at gauging community opinions of the current state of the urban forest.
• A Listening Session was held on May 20, 2023 with approximately 40 attendees to survey community members on where they think more trees should be planted within the City, brainstorming how to improve the urban forest, and discussing how to overcome threats to the urban forest.
• Five Working Group meetings consisting of 17 engaged community leaders to understand interested parties’ priorities and concerns about the urban forest.
• City staff interviews to discuss current challenges, needs from a staff perspective, and goals and outcomes for the UFP.
Workshop presentations and survey results are available at www.alamedaca.gov/UrbanForestPlan <http://www.alamedaca.gov/UrbanForestPlan>.
Current Engagement
• Community Workshop #2 - 1 virtual, 1 in-person open house, January 29 and 30, 2025
• City Council study session (February 4, 2025)
• Board and Commission meetings (January/February 2025): Recreation and Parks Commission, Public Utilities Board, Planning Board, and Historical Advisory Board.
• City Council adoption (expected Spring 2025).
DISCUSSION
The City seeks to have a UFP that responds to the current and future needs and benefits for all residents of Alameda. The vision of the UFP is that Alameda’s urban forest is a collection of healthy, diverse, resilient trees supported by sustainable resources and management practices that enhance our quality of life, provide habitat for wildlife, and support adaptation to climate change for the benefit of all community members and generations to come. The draft UFP is available for public review at www.alamedaca.gov/UFP <http://www.alamedaca.gov/UFP>.
The following discussion describes the plan themes, goals and strategies, completed key tasks to update the UFP, the canopy cover goal, tree selection matrix, and preliminary funding and staffing analysis for City Council to review and provide feedback.
Plan Themes
The UFP guides the management of the urban forest across four major themes that reflect the values and priorities of the community to guide the long-term stewardship and growth of the urban forest.
• Equity. Alameda’s tree canopy is not equitably distributed across neighborhoods and the benefits of the urban forest are not evenly shared. The UFP promotes practices and policies that provide for the equitable distribution of canopy cover across the City and provide the benefits of the urban forest evenly to all residents.
• Health and Resilience. The UFP promotes a healthy and diverse urban forest that is adapted to the adverse impacts of climate change. Alameda’s urban forest is well managed following best practices for tree care.
• Growing the Tree Canopy. The UFP encourages the preservation of existing healthy trees and growing the tree canopy by planting new trees.
• Engaging Communities. The community plays a vital role in the preservation and expansion of Alameda’s urban forest. The UFP seeks to increase awareness in the Alameda community of the benefits of trees and proper management and promote participation in urban forest management.
Plan Goals and Strategies
The draft UFP presented in this item identifies four goals that identify the specific ways the plan’s vision will be achieved. The UFP identifies specific strategies and actions to implement each of the goals. Strategies are listed below while actions are documented in the body of the plan. Turning goals into action requires funding and potentially new staffing resources, which will need to be phased. Some of the implementation actions can only be implemented once additional staff is approved, funded, and hired, which will be analyzed and discussed further within the context of all of the City’s operational and programmatic needs and proposals as part of the upcoming biennial budget process. That said, an evaluation of funding and staffing implementation is presented as part of the UFP and described below. While the City will take the lead in managing and growing the urban forest, the community also plays an important role in this process.
The goals and strategies presented in the draft UFP take into consideration the target set forth in the CARP to plant 350 trees a year which would achieve a canopy cover of 20% citywide by 2055. However, funding and staffing was not approved with the CARP to accomplish this target. When City Council adopts the final UFP, this will establish a canopy coverage goal and a phased funding and staffing plan for achieving it that will be integrated into the upcoming and subsequent biennial budgets. These draft UFP goals and strategies are listed below and described in more detail in the draft plan, including specific action items with the responsible entity, time frame and level of cost.
• Goal 1: Maintain and grow a healthy and diverse urban forest to provide an increase in tree canopy cover in each Census Tract and citywide by 2055.
o Strategy 1.A: Grow the urban forest.
o Strategy 1.B: Maintain the health and diversity of the urban forest.
o Strategy 1.C: Ensure existing and new trees are incorporated into new developments and City plans for both public and private property.
• Goal 2: Develop the financial and human resources necessary to effectively manage the urban forest and implement the UFP.
o Strategy 2.A: Define responsibilities and maintain adequate staffing and budget to successfully maintain the health of the urban forest and implement the Urban Forest Plan.
• Goal 3: Increase protection for public and private trees.
o Strategy 3.A: Support improved protections for public and private trees.
• Goal 4: Partner with an engaged and informed community to effectively steward the urban forest.
o Strategy 4.A: Engage residents and community organizations in the urban forest.
o Strategy 4.B: Build capacity of community organizations to engage with the urban forest.
Key UFP Updates
The following tasks were completed as part of the UFP:
• Assessment of tree canopy coverage and tree inventory
• Assessment of tree equity and social vulnerability
• Assessment of threats and risks to the urban forest
• Assessment of key issues by neighborhood and corridor
• Improved best management practices, including standards, details, guidelines, and policies of how the City will manage the tree inventory and urban forest.
• Development of Priority Planting Score (PPS) to guide tree planting by census tract for a more equitably distributed canopy cover
• Canopy Cover Increase Analysis
• Development of strategies to meet plan goals and recommendations for community partnerships to expand tree canopy beyond City managed trees
• Climate ready Tree Species Selection Matrix
• Funding and staffing analysis
Tree Species Selection Matrix
As part of the UFP update, the City updated its preferred tree species list to further assist in the long-term effort to increase tree canopy cover city-wide. The Alameda Tree Species Selection Matrix (Matrix) is a comprehensive table of tree species that are appropriate for the current and anticipated future climate of Alameda. The tree species list is available to view online at SelecTree <https://selectree.calpoly.edu/list/108>. Development of the Matrix included consultation with City staff, local City arborists, and other local experts to understand how current species are performing in the landscape, maintenance challenges, and whether the tree species provides a desirable aesthetic. The list was also vetted through various research papers and studies to understand what species are predicted to be suitable for changing environmental conditions. A specific focus was placed on understanding how rising groundwater impacts tree health and what species would be best adapted to a higher groundwater table and subsequent salinity.
The Matrix provides detailed information on each individual species to assist the City in selecting the right tree for the right place. This includes information on species characteristics like height and width at maturity, type of fruit or flowers, or evergreen or deciduous. Additional information is provided to help determine what locations the species should be planted like minimum planting space, best for street or park, and tolerance to site conditions like sun exposure, preferred soil type, and water use.
Finally, an important consideration for each species is whether they are appropriate to be planted under utility lines to ensure that trees can reach a mature size without coming into conflict with overhead wires. Tree species with a maximum potential height of 25 feet are considered appropriate to plant under utility lines. Planting trees appropriate for these locations will also help to reduce long-term maintenance costs associated with frequently pruning trees to maintain clearance from electric lines.
Canopy Cover Goal
The canopy cover goal strategies were developed in consideration of the approved CARP target. Achieving the canopy cover goal of 20% citywide by 2055 is a challenging and aspirational goal and will be directly related to the allocation of funding and staffing for programs and services over many years. Therefore, staff developed an evaluation of funding and staffing approaches (described below) that will be necessary to accomplish the canopy cover goal for Alameda. The canopy cover goal will be formally adopted when City Council approves the final UFP. The UFP aims to maintain and grow a healthy and diverse urban forest to provide increase in tree canopy cover in each Census Tract and citywide by 2055. The following is a summary of the data points and analysis used to determine the canopy cover goal. More in-depth data and analysis is included in the draft UFP.
Increasing canopy cover to 20% over the next thirty years will require adding approximately 9,600 new trees based on the size of tree planted.
The City inventory reflects 4,234 vacant tree planting sites. It may be possible to add additional planting sites by cutting new tree wells, removing asphalt, and other de-paving practices.
An estimated 5,170 residential parcels have no tree cover and may be suitable candidates for new trees.
Canopy growth of the existing City managed trees may only account for an additional 2.8% canopy increase.
The City averages approximately 189 tree removals per year. While these trees will be replaced when they are removed, it will likely take the 30-year UFP canopy coverage timeframe to recover the lost canopy.
The spacing limitations within the City make 20% canopy cover a realistic goal to achieve over the next 30 years. Since the UFP will be updated every ten (10) years, the City can also reassess in a future UFP update how realistic the 20% goal is given future budget realities and whether a higher canopy goal is achievable if the original goal is achieved on a faster timeline. The UFP will prioritize tree planting in priority census tracts utilizing a priority planting score developed for the Plan that combines Census tracts with low canopy cover and an equity focused metric of pollution vulnerability and burden using CalEnviroScreen 4.0. This is a screening tool that helps identify California communities that are disproportionately burdened by multiple sources of pollution.
Evaluation of Funding and Staffing
Current program funding levels allow the City to meet some of the performance metrics of the urban forest program including planting two trees for each one removed, watering newly planted trees for three years, young tree pruning, removing trees on a timely basis, and maintaining a five-year street tree pruning cycle. As the urban forest grows, additional budget resources will be necessary to maintain the current level of service with more trees. This goal can only be achieved by either adding capacity through additional maintenance staff and/or by increasing the level of contracted services.
Based on the current urban forest program and the analysis completed in the UFP, staff identified the funding and staffing need for managing the urban forest to meet the current goal for tree canopy coverage of 20% by 2055. This analysis projects Alameda’s tree inventory 30 years into the future and includes funding for staffing, tree planting and maintenance as well as community programs.
ALTERNATIVES
• Provide feedback on the Draft UFP.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
City Council authorized $350,000 from the General Fund for the UFP update. Funding recommendations for implementation of the UFP will be analyzed and discussed in the upcoming and subsequent biennial budget processes for consideration by City Council within the context of the citywide budget and the operational and programmatic needs of all City departments. Additional funding for the urban forest could be requested from the General Fund or from the Gas Tax which would likely reduce funding for current and future transportation projects. Individual projects recommended by the UFP will be brought to City Council separately for approvals and funding as needed.
RECOMMENDATION
Review and comment on the Urban Forest Plan and implementation.
Respectfully submitted,
Justin Long, Recreation and Parks Director
By,
Danielle Mieler, Sustainability and Resilience Manager
Liz Acord, Public Works Coordinator