Tree Equity Funding Action Guide Step Five:
Go Public​

A vibrant urban forest scene with a mural, people, trees, and blooming flowers.

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Go Public “When a good story is being told, listeners are not only engaged. They’re also involved — both in head and heart.” -Carolyn O’HaraHarvard Business Review, July 2014 Make it Personal Dry presentations of fact rarely convince anyone to act. […]

Forest Health Action Guide

Glossy buckthorn attacking NYC forests

Prescribing treatment for infected trees after the fact rarely turns out well. At that point your only option may be to simply remove the trees and try to replace them. Plan ahead for better outcomes.

Conversation Starters

Woman interviewing Detroit resident about neighborhood trees

Learning what matters Doorstep and Small Groups Do some neighborhoods in our town have more trees than we do? What do you think caused your neighborhood to have fewer trees than other residential neighborhoods? Are your children in our neighborhoods mostly playing on pavement or asphalt playgrounds? Do you agree that trees and green space […]

Assess your ordinances and policies

A close up of a cross section of rotted wood. The photo shows the rings of the tree going out from the center. The wood has several cracks, has a light to dark brown, to black color. On the right and top part of the photo are holes possibly made by insects and/ or birds.

Tools from the Center for Watershed Protection How is your ordinance working? To better understand how many different approaches to municipal tree ordinances might affect tree equity, check out their Guidelines for Developing and Evaluating Tree Ordinances. How different policies affect your forest To assess the full suite of policies that govern the future of […]

Enforceable ordinances

A maroon wooden gavel, maroon sound block or base of the gavel, and two books are all artfully arranged together to evoke the feeling of the rule of law. Two books are stacked on top of each other. The top one is maroon with gold lettering titled "Code of Ordinances" with a small maroon bookmark coming out of the bottom right corner of the book. The bottom book is tan and does not have a title.

Making them stick When the stakes are high, property owners may challenge rules that limit their development opportunities, or their profits. Even homeowners may file suit just to clear their property for a garden — despite rules prohibiting removal of certain trees. Remember: if you lose one, you set a precedent for others. When drafting […]

Municipal policies that affect your urban forest

A photo of the Madison, Wiscosin City Office. The office is in an art deco and Federalist style with three large stories. The building is stone with green accents along with large windows. The photo is taken at dusk and the Madison skyline is in the background with the street lights and building lights starting to turn on and glow. The City Office has a large entry way with ramp, stairs, large and wide sidewalk. street trees, and parked cars. The sidewalk has two patterns of brick one reddish pink and the other grey.

Don’t expect that simply adopting a robust tree protection ordinances will solve your problems. Too often, other policies and rules enacted by the city (like zoning and development standards) can pose unexpected roadblocks to your tree initiatives. Policy Why it’s important Comprehensive plans The comprehensive plan – yours may be called a general plan or […]

Common ordinance provisions

Topic Description Findings (“Whereas”) Vision and goals Most codes begin with assertions of fact – acknowledging that the body enacting the ordinance has considered local conditions and assessed the potential costs and benefits of action. Findings, vision and goals establish the “why” of the ordinance; the remainder describes the “what” and “how.” Purpose This Section […]

Key components in tree ordinances

Sign at front of City Hall.

A tree ordinance should: present a compelling statement of the public health, municipal, and environmental benefits of healthy city trees,  explain why protection and enhancement of the city’s tree population is a public good, demonstrate  why protection and enhancement of city tree canopy  requires a municipal ordinance, enact municipal code(s) that sets goals for tree […]

Extreme Weather and Transportation Equity

Two men waiting for a bus at an unshaded stop.

Urban bus ridership, income, and extreme weather events Nicole S. Ngo, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and EnvironmentVolume 77, December 2019, Pages 464-475 Climate change is projected to worsen weather extremes, such as heat waves and days of heavy precipitation, which could pose serious health and economic risks to U.S. cities. These extreme weather events could […]

Shade Phoenix

An example public transit stop with constructed shade in Phoenix, Arizona. The public transit stop is light blue with shade art on the sides, benches, and a covered top. In the background is a road. The surrounding trees on the left add their own shade to the top of the transit stop. Between the transit stop and the trees is a large sidewalk.

Years in development, this plan offers a roadmap to other cities who need to blend built and natural solutions into their climate resilience policies.

Step Six: Mobilize

Oak wilt

Because you’ve recruited key players, assigned responsibilities and trained together, your team is already prepared to hit the ground. But depending on the intensity of the threat and the solutions available – their work may not end quickly. And it may change as response efforts transition into recovery, then mitigation and ultimately long-term defense of […]

State forest health programs

Forester marking tree for maintenance purposes.

While some states may offer only statewide reports, many separately report outbreaks of urban forest pests and disease; others are likely to join them. Alabama: The Alabama Forestry Commission monitors forest health and publishes reports on pest and disease conditions. Arizona: The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management monitors and reports on forest health, […]