City Commission Approves Urban Forest Master Plan

December 05, 2018

Tonight, the Tallahassee City Commission approved an Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP) to guide proactive urban forest management to balance the needs for storm hardening, infrastructure and growth over the next 20 years while ensuring the health of Tallahassee's trees.

Tallahassee, designated as a Tree City USA, is known for its trees and iconic canopy roads. At 55 percent, the City boasts one of the highest percentages of tree coverage in the nation. Additionally, the species of trees found in our area are the most diverse in the nation, according to biodiversity maps. Recent damage caused by Hurricane Michael further reinforces the importance of urban forest management as it relates to public safety and resilience.

"Thanks to dedicated leadership and citizen involvement, much work has been done over time to protect and care for the local canopy, and policies have been in place for many years to preserve or replant trees during development," Mayor John Dailey said. "This plan takes a long-range approach to further ensure the proper management of our richly diverse urban tree canopy for years to come."

Overall UFMP goals are to improve canopy quality, maintain canopy levels and engage the community. The plan calls for increasing public safety and environmental benefits to residents, coordinating forest management efforts with other City infrastructure and reducing costs to taxpayers.

Development of the UFMP commenced in October 2017 and produced multiple data-driven, sustainable urban forest management assessments, including:

• The City's first Urban Tree Canopy Analysis
• A sample inventory of public trees
• A review of existing City policies
• Public stakeholder input to clarify both existing challenges and future priorities

The process of developing an urban forest master plan has given Tallahassee a better understanding of its urban forest, the challenges facing it, the expectations of the community and the actions needed to make positive changes in its quality and function.

For more information, please contact Mindy Mohrman, Urban Forester, at 850-891-6415 or visit Talgov.com/TallyTrees.