Other Policies that Influence Urban Forestry

A variety of municipal policies can support tree canopy expansion from neighborhood to state level. 

As your plan evolves, understand which of these policies — in your local, regional and state context — offers the best leverage to advance your plan goals. After that, make sure your forestry goals are reflected in these other policies.

Tree Protection Ordinances

These often form the core of a community’s urban forestry efforts — setting standards for tree removal, replacement, mitigation and protection of trees during construction. 

These plans address canopy goals, maintenance, operations, budgets, staffing, collaboration, engagement and public education. Most focus on public property; some address trees on private land.

The comprehensive, general or master plans – are the foundational policy document for local governments.  They’re called comprehensive because they address many different community concerns – from land use and transportation to school boundaries and public health.  These kinds of plans are periodically revisited and can help guide specific policy decisions for a decade or more.   

Your community works under a similar plan or set of plans to meet Federal, state and local water quality requirements. 

Green Infrastructure Plans are a comprehensive assessments and strategies outlining the costs, benefits and goals of both naturalized areas (such as trails and parks) and man-made infrastructure (such as a raingardens).

Often they cover the same issues addressed in stormwater, water quality and watershed plans.

Streets and roadways constitute a large share of publicly owned and controlled land. Incorporating trees into transportation plans helps achieve multiple goals — not just urban forestry, but transportation safety and stormwater as well.

Many communities of all sizes developed multi-dimensional sustainability plans.  These plans are an opportunity to embrace, protect, and enhance your urban forestry goals, and make your community a better place to live.   

Particularly for cities subject to severe weather events, these types of plan – while aiming at resilience – also offer a framework to establish goals and develop policies to protect natural resources and urban forests.

  

These can include a wide range of guidelines, zoning ordinances, laws and regulations that set standards for new and existing properties: for example, tree canopy retention and minimums, lot size and setbacks, native plants and species diversity. Overall these zoning and development standards create the framework in which cities can work to protect and grow their urban forest — or not.

Because of density and existing sidewalks and road, creating tree equity in low-canopy neighborhoods may require street- or even neighborhood-level action. When revitalization strategies are on the table, make certain urban forestry becomes one of the solutions.