Commenting closed on the draft Urban Forest Plan on 12/8/23. Thank you to everyone who participated in the process by reading the plan, attending an information session, or commenting on the document. We are reviewing the comments now and expect to have a final draft in late winter/early spring 2024.
The Plan outlines strategies based on community desires, collected data, and industry best practices to support the long-term health and improvement of Oakland's urban forest. Your participation is needed to ensure that the Plan effectively represents the community's needs. The six-week public comment period ran from October 30th to December 8th. There were two information sessions: 1) November 15th Virtual Information Session (12:00 to 1:00 pm), and 2) November 29th at 6:00 p.m. in-person at the 81st Avenue Branch Library.
Purpose of the Plan
1. Develop a maintenance plan and budget to care for all trees growing on City-owned property.
2. Create a data-driven process for growing equitable tree canopy so that all Oaklanders can share the benefits of trees.
3. Meet an objective of Oakland's Equitable Climate Action Plan to develop an urban forest plan.
4. Enable the City to be better prepared to pursue a variety of external funding opportunities, like the $8 million Federal grant the City was awarded this September.
Background
The development of the Plan was made possible by a grant from the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) funded by California Climate Investments, approved by City Council Resolution 87388 in 2018. This grant also enabled the completion of a street and landscaped park tree inventory, and the planting of 700 trees in flatland communities. A series of reports and analyses listed in the project documents section below were completed to provide baseline information for making informed, data-driven decisions.
Please note that the Urban Forest Plan differs from the Vegetation Management Plan, which is managed by the Oakland Fire Department and focuses on the reduction of fire hazards.
Definition of Key Terms
- Urban Forest: All trees growing in Oakland
- Street Trees: All trees growing along sidewalks
- Public Trees: All trees growing on City-owned land, including street trees
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Oakland's Trees in the News:
- Oakland is getting $8M to plant trees across the city
- Bay Area Cities to Get Millions for Trees in Disadvantaged Areas
- Urban Heat Island Effect: What It Is and What We Can Do to Fix It
- Want more trees in your neighborhood? Take this city survey
- Oakland's trees are dying faster than they can be planted, despite community efforts
