Becoming a Community that Values TreesEmily Lardner
Why do we value trees? Stand under one for a minute or two, and take some deep breaths. Across the country, interest in urban forests is on the rise. Trees are a crucial part of urban renewal efforts; people tend to spend more time on tree-lined streets as compared to streets without trees, and as we linger on those tree-lined streets, we tend to spend more money, increasing sales and sales taxes. Trees provide more than an aesthetically pleasing economic enhancement strategy, which is why cities across the country—though not yet Olympia—are adopting strategic goals for increasing their tree canopy cover. Among other benefits, trees do two crucial things: they improve air quality, and they help absorb storm water run-off. According to Elisabeth Lardner, chair of the Northern Virginia Urban Forestry Roundtable, increasing canopy cover in urban areas is an important remediation strategy for East Coast cities that fail to meet federally mandated air quality standards. The City of Seattle, in its Urban Forestry Management Plan 2007, similarly links its plan for increasing canopy cover to its goal of improving air quality. Trees also help retain storm water, reducing the amount of water that flows into storm sewers, into our sewage treatment plants, and into the Sound. This is a big benefit, given our aging storm sewer infrastructure, a growing population, and the fragility of the Sound. The American Forests group estimates that Seattle lost 46% of its heavy tree cover and 67% of its medium tree cover between 1972 and 1996, and they estimate that the storm water retention capacity of Seattle's urban forest cover was reduced by 27% in that same period. From Counting Trees to Measuring Canopy Cover Cities that are serious about trees have shifted from counting trees as individual units to quantifying the amount of land within the city covered by tree canopy. Seattle's Urban Forest Management Plan 2007 states that "a good measure of the health and value of an urban forest is the percentage of land within the city that has tree canopy cover." The American Forests, an urban forest management, conservation and research group, recommends that cities in the Pacific Northwest set canopy cover goals of 40% within 30 years. According to Seattle's Urban Forest Management Plan 2007, Vancouver, WA, has a canopy cover of 19.7% and has established a citywide goal of 28%. Portland has a canopy cover of 26.3% and has established a goal for residential areas of 47% and for industrial/commercial areas of 12%. Seattle has set a goal of going from 18% canopy cover to 30% canopy cover in 30 years. The City of Olympia does not yet set canopy cover goals. According to Micki McNaughton of the city's Urban Forestry Program, urban forestry in Olympia has traditionally been concerned with individual trees, and so trees have been assessed via a "stem count." The problem with the stem count method is that not all trees are alike: some are little, and some are big, but if we work from a stem count model, a tree is a tree. Seventeen years ago, the City Council passed a resolution indicating their intention that canopy cover would increase. When I started asking several months ago about how we were doing with this goal, I was told by city employees that we don't really know. With no assessment of canopy cover, we can't say whether it has been increasing or decreasing over time. Alarmed, I talked with a friend familiar with the work of the Planning Commission, and was told—off the record—that while developers have to sign agreements about protecting trees on sites, typically, more trees than anticipated are harmed in the process of site development. The result: mature trees are replaced by seedlings. The tree count stays the same, but the overall tree canopy cover goes down. Olympia's status as a Tree City USA doesn't require us to track canopy cover either. A city can meet the four Tree City USA standards without measuring its overall canopy cover. Opportunities for Change When I asked McNaughton whether we have the tools we need to adopt canopy cover goals for Olympia, she mentioned the recently passed Evergreen Communities Act, which "restores, retains and establishes more trees and forests in our cities, towns and counties" by developing (among other things) eco-regional model urban forest management plans to expand urban forest canopy. McNaughton wrote in an email that "synthesizing all the current information, and folding that into the new data being created by remote sensing and aerial photography will give us new tools for evaluating Olympia's urban forest as it exists today, and help us set those canopy-coverage goals." She also noted that "Olympia does have street tree inventories from the past, as well as an inventory update in progress using electronic GIS-based data collection." One small complication is that responsibility for trees in Olympia is divided between two departments. Urban Forestry manages street trees, and Parks manages trees in parks. Canopy coverage percentages are based on all trees, so the two departments would necessarily have to work together. A greater challenge is that the City has only one forester, down from two, due to revenue shortfalls. City staff alone can't take on this task. Kathleen Wolf, one of the most influential and widely respected urban foresters in the U.S., wrote in an email that in most cities, the limit on adopting canopy goals lies not with city staff, but with the political will of the community. If the public asks for canopy goals, city staff are typically pleased to respond. According to Elisabeth Lardner, communities on the East coast have made good use of tree commissioners—citizen tree stewards. Olympia could adopt this successful strategy and appoint volunteer tree commissioners. Just as we have a voluntary planning commission, so too might we have a voluntary tree commission, citizens who would be advised by and work with our city forester in developing, assessing and reporting out on quantitative goals for increasing our tree canopy as well as generating wide-spread public support. What a difference that could make, not only for today, but for generations to come. Let's make it happen!
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See if you can sense the tree's presence, even with your eyes closed. Mature trees have a big physical presence, and many people find comfort simply being near them. Formal and informal studies show that we linger longer on streets with trees; we feel more comfortable in neighborhoods that include trees; we heal faster and work better when we can see trees. In short, trees—the "charismatic macro-flora" of urban landscapes—are essential for our well-being.