Urban Forest Plan City & County of San Francisco
Urban Forestry Council & Department of the Environment
April 2006
Dr. Jim Clark of HortScience prepared this document with assistance from the Urban Forestry Council and the Department of the Environment.
This Urban Forest Plan is intended for use in the City and County of San Francisco. It is the first step in a process that will incorporate the Urban Forest Plan into San Francisco’s General Plan. This plan is a living document that can be changed and adapted.
This plan will be distributed to the Board of Supervisors, Mayor’s Office, City departments and agencies, community groups and members of the public. We welcome input and questions regarding the Urban Forest Plan. Please contact the Department of the Environment, Urban Forestry Council Coordinator, Alexis Harte, 11 Grove Street, San Francisco, CA 94102, 415-355-3764, [email protected] or Grace Ma, Urban Forest Associate, 415-355-3731, [email protected].
The Urban Forestry Council approved this document on February 28, 2006 and it was forwarded to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on April 2006.
Urban Forestry Council Members Carolyn Blair Mike Boss Jocelyn Cohen Kelly Cornell Larry Costello Bonnie Fisher Steve Griswold David Habert Jane Herman Lena Miller Terry Milne Kelly Quirke AnMarie Rodgers Paul Sacamano Michael Sullivan
Department of the Environment, Urban Forest Program Staff Alexis Harte Grace Ma
Acknowledgements David Binder Research Department of Parking and Transportation Friends of the Urban Forest Greg McPherson, Center for Urban Forest Research Neighborhood Parks Council David Novak and the UFORE research team Sean Stasio, Department of Recreation and Park
With support from Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund PG&E Safe Tree Fund EXECUTIVE SUMMARY San Francisco Urban Forest Plan April 2006
People appreciate and enjoy San Francisco’s 668,000 trees. Few trees in this unique urban forest arose naturally--almost all were planted. The framework of this forest was established during an intense burst of tree planting that occurred in the late 1800s and early 1900s. City government, the Army, citizens, and real estate developers all took part, planting trees by the thousands. But since the 1920s, planting of new trees has not kept pace with losses due to old age, disease, storms, civic improvement, and development.
Today, San Francisco’s urban forest can be characterized as inconsistent and incomplete. Though a framework of planting was begun, it was never completed. Trees that were established in the early years of the last century are nearing the end of their life spans. Many parts of the city are severely deficient in the number, extent and quality of plantings. Others are greatly in need of proper maintenance and support to deal with the unique challenges and stresses of the urban environment.
The urban forest contributes significantly to the amenity of the city and its desirability as a place to live, work and visit. Our city trees play a valuable role in the identity of the city and in reinforcing a sense of place. The urban forest provides an important social benefit, heightening the sensory experience of nature in the city—filtering light, adding color, providing needed shade, privacy and restoring the mental fatigue suffered by its residents and visitors. In addition to these qualitative benefits, our urban forest also performs important environmental functions such as removing 287 tons of atmospheric pollutants and 5,100 tons of carbon each year.
San Francisco’s urban forest is owned and managed by a diverse mix of city, county, state and federal agencies as well as the private sector. On most streets, the property owner and the City and County of San Francisco share responsibility for trees. There has been little coordination in the care of trees among the parks, golf courses, streets and communities that form the bulk of the forest. Unfortunately, the public and elected officials have failed to fund urban forest activities at the level commensurate with its importance to the community.
The City’s Urban Forestry Council, composed of citizens and professionals, recognizes that action must be taken to arrest the decline in the size of the urban forest, to regain lost ground and to rekindle the spirit of tree planting that occurred 100 years ago.
To that end, the Council has prepared an Urban Forest Plan, which reviews the creation of San Francisco’s urban forest, analyzes the structure and functional benefits of the forests, and identifies the challenges that threaten its future. Designed to provide a road map for policy-makers and implementers, the Plan identifies five goals, critical to maximizing the value of the forest. Underlying these goals is the understanding that the urban forest is a living and evolving resource that is adapted to the unique and often challenging conditions of the urban environment. These goals are directed at the owners and managers of the trees that comprise the urban forest who must:
1. Maintain and conserve the existing urban forest. 2. Expand the urban forest through new planting. 3. Foster a shared set of values about the urban forest through education and action. 4. Manage the urban forest in a coordinated, responsible and effective manner. 5. Identify sustainable approaches for the funding and implementation of urban forest initiatives.
The Council believes that these goals are strongly related—one cannot simply be eliminated or ignored. All are critical to the future of San Francisco’s urban forest. When these goals are implemented, the City will have more trees, a larger urban forest in better health with more trees evenly distributed and therefore providing a greater level of benefits.
Within these five goals are a diverse group of specific action items. The Council identified nine action items as having the highest, most immediate priority: