City of Dallas 2021 Urban Forest Master Plan
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Dallas Urban Forest Master Plan 2021 A MESSAGE FROM TEXAS TREES It’s a simple fact that trees are good. It’s also a fact that trees in cities just don’t happen by chance, except the Trinity Forest. The reality that the City of Dallas has a natural forest, and a built urban forest is remarkable. But we’ve come to a crossroads; nurture and manage this resource - or lose it. Bulldozers, urban heat, pests, climate change, and a myriad of other maladies are affecting one of our most important natural resources—trees. And it’s up to us to come together, as a community, and have the will to consolidate efforts, both within the city and with external partners, to protect, expand, and manage our urban forest resource. It’s up to all of us to make trees a priority. The Dallas Urban Forest Master Plan sets forward a strategic and cohesive agenda to manage this “green infrastructure”. If centralized within the City, there can be a comprehensive cost-effective approach to aligning investments for a greater return while at the same time providing a roadmap for private partners to help reach the goals and objectives of a strategic urban forestry plan. The Texas Trees Foundation is here to help, as we’ve been since 1982, and we will continue to provide technical assistance, support, expertise, volunteers, and sponsors to help make Dallas cooler, greener and cleaner for our residents and to the visitors to this great city. Janette Monear, CEO & President // Texas Trees Foundation Texas Trees Foundation is pleased to lead the Urban Forest Master Plan with these Key Partners CITY OF DALLAS // LYDA HILL PHILANTHROPIES // ONCOR 2 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary 6 Why Dallas’s Urban Forest Matters 7 Urban Forest Threats and Opportunities 7 A Plan for Action 8 Making Trees a Priority 8 Dallas’s Urban Forest Master Plan 10 Dallas Urban Forest Master Plan Goals 10 Dallas Urban Forest Master Plan Recommendations 11 SECTION 1: Introduction 12 Why Develop an Urban Forest Master Plan? 15 Trees Work 17 Benefits of Trees—By the Numbers 20 Dallas is Facing Challenges 23 The Way Forward 31 SECTION 2: State of the Urban Forest 33 What Do We Have? 34 Dallas’s Urban Forest 37 About Dallas’s Trees 49 Dallas’s Public Tree Care & Management 56 Public Tree Maintenance 62 City Regulations and Policies 65 City Plans 66 Indicators of a Sustainable Urban Forest 70 SECTION 3: Understanding Dallas’s Priorities 73 Community and Stakeholder Input 75 Urban Forest Master Plan Survey 80 SECTION 4: Making Trees a Priority 85 The Path Forward 87 Goals 87 Recommendations and Recommended Action Steps 88 Action and Implementation 109 SECTION 5: Assessing Progress 115 How Are We Doing? 116 Conclusion 119 APPENDICES AND REFERENCES 121 Appendix A: Maps 122 Appendix B: Ordinance Review 132 Appendix C: Indicators of a Sustainable Urban Forest 136 References 140 4 5 WHY DALLAS’S URBAN FOREST MATTERS Executive Summary Imagine it is a typical summer day in the City of Dallas, and you go for a walk. It is 110 degrees and too hot to stand on the sidewalk. Ahead, a row of trees lines your path and relief from the heat is instant as you stand in their shade. The City of Dallas hosts an impressive, yet underappreciated resource in its trees, forests, and greenspace, known collectively as the urban forest. The urban forest is a capital infrastructure asset, and like any other capital infrastructure asset, requires management input and sustained action. However, unlike other infrastructure, the urban forest’s value increases over time, returning on average $2.25 dollars per dollar spent (McPherson et al., 2005). Trees produce a myriad of important benefits to Dallas’s environment, residents, and visitors. These benefits, including cooling, air quality regulation, improved human health and well-being, and stormwater mitigation, are enhanced with proper urban forest management action. In the City of Dallas, there are an estimated 14.7 million trees (Texas Trees Foundation, 2015) producing $239 million in quantifiable environmental benefits annually (Texas Tree Foundation, 2019). In addition, these trees also provide aesthetic, social, and spiritual benefits that go beyond monetary value. URBAN FOREST THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES Unfortunately, Dallas’s urban forest resource is at risk. Diffused management, pests and disease, and rapid urban development pose serious threats to the city’s trees. Currently, Dallas has a tree canopy cover of 32%, relatively high for a city of its size. At the same time, the inequitable distribution of tree canopy across the city cause some of its residents to be deprived of the key benefits of these trees altogether. As trees grow, their benefits supplied increase exponentially, meaning preservation of mature trees is critical, and the planting of new trees is urgently needed to supply future benefits. Dallas’s unique urban forest, composed of trees on both private and public property, in parks, medians, and in the 6,000-acre Great Trinity Forest, must be properly managed to ensure the greatest benefit for the City’s inhabitants. Furthermore, as opportunities, such as carbon credits and cap-and-trade programs, become increasingly viable, the value of a healthy, well managed forest resource will continue to grow. Currently, a decentralized governance structure with varying management strategies and a lack of focused resources and action, cause the City’s urban forest resource to be underutilized and threatened. 6 7 ONE TRILLION A PLAN FOR ACTION TREES INITIATIVE A sound plan for the management of the urban forest is critical to ensure the resource is In 2020, the City of Dallas joined the protected, maintained, and grown. Building on decades of high-quality local and national urban forest research, this Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP, the Plan), sets a strategic World Economic Forum’s One Trillion and cohesive agenda to improve urban forest management across the City of Dallas. Trees Initiative to plant one trillion Informed by the State of the Dallas Urban Forest assessments performed by the Texas trees worldwide by 2030. Trees Foundation (2015; 2019), driven by goals outlined in the Dallas Comprehensive Environmental and Climate Action Plan (2020), Dallas’s commitment to the World Through the Dallas Urban Forestry Economic Forum’s One Trillion Trees initiative (2020), the UFMP sets the stage for increased and improved urban forest stewardship action. Initiative, the City of Dallas and its partners have pledged to: MAKING TREES A PRIORITY All too often, the urban forest is treated not as an asset, but relegated to a luxury, or Plant 31,000 trees worse, as a hinderance to other land uses and infrastructure. To accomplish the goals set out in this plan, trees must be recognized for their full inherent, monetary, health, Protect 14.7 million and cultural values. City decision-makers must recognize these values in the context of existing trees decisions made around funding allocations, infrastructure, zoning, and development, and become a priority for city decision-makers in order to ensure the health and longevity Facilitate Natural of the urban forest. This plan lays out 14 recommendations, with recommended Regeneration of action steps and timelines, for the City to create a more resilient, well-managed, and 3.3 million trees sustainable urban forest. Without increased, cohesive support, trees will continue to be an afterthought, and the City of Dallas will miss extraordinary opportunities to enhance the lives and health of its residents through green infrastructure. With herculean challenges such as climate change, poor air quality, and rapid development looming on Dallas’s doorstep, urban forests provide a key tool to combat issues facing every Dallas decision-maker and their constituents. Ultimately, without champions for urban forests at The Dallas Urban Forest Master the political and management levels of the City of Dallas, the opportunities and benefits Plan can help meet this pledge. of urban forestry will not be realized. Dallas is at a crossroads. Is it going to continue down a path towards intolerable outdoor For information on the Initiative activities in summer months? Or will it respond to the challenges of a super-heated and Dallas’s pledge, visit 1t.org. city head-on by managing and aggressively taking action for its urban forest, so that a summer walk can be along cool, green, healthy tree-lined streets. 8 9 DALLAS’S URBAN FOREST MASTER PLAN DALLAS URBAN FOREST MASTER PLAN RECOMMENDATIONS Trees are an important part of the solution in addressing the challenges facing Dallas 1. Complete a comprehensive tree inventory of all right-of-way and park trees. and making the city sustainable and resilient. However, to harness and maximize the benefits the urban forest provides, trees must become a priority in Dallas. Adoption of 2. Centralize the City of Dallas’s urban forestry programs and activities. the Dallas Urban Forest Master Plan is the first step in making trees a priority, and 3. Create a Storm Response and Recovery Plan for the City of Dallas. action on its recommendations is the next. 4. Strengthen and support existing relationships and partnerships. The foundation and direction of the Plan was established based on a set of priorities, themes, and guiding principles identified through input and feedback from a wide range 5. Work towards development of a City Urban Forest Management Plan. of stakeholders and the community at large. Using these themes, priorities, and guiding principles, the Plan is designed to move Dallas towards a sustainable and resilient urban 6. Ensure Dallas regulations, best-management practices, and guidelines are in place forest by proactively managing, preserving, caring for, and growing the city’s tree canopy.