Seattle’s Urban Forest Stewardship Plan

Seattle, Washington, USA

The City of Seattle introduced the Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP) in 2007 as a guiding document to help address the needs of the local urban forest. Based on local canopy cover data available at the time, assessments of opportunities and challenges for protection and planting as well as benchmarking with other cities, the UFMP set a goal to increase the city’s canopy cover from 18 percent (2001 rough estimate, error margin unknown) to 30 percent by 2037. Because capacity for tree planting or management in an industrial setting is very different from that found in residential neighbourhoods or in parks, the UFMP considered the opportunities and challenges for tree protection and planting in nine land use categories. Goals for canopy cover increase were set for each.  The UFMP also defined a framework for City departments, non-profit organisations, residents, and the community as a whole to support efforts to grow and care for the urban forest.

Resulting achievements include:

• Creating of an Urban Forestry Commission to advise the Mayor and City Council on policy matters related to the protection, management, and planting of trees in Seattle (Mayor/City Council - 2009)
• Creating a new, permanent position to manage reLeaf, the City of Seattle’s community engagement and outreach program on urban forestry (Mayor/City Council - 2011)
• Completing an online map of street trees and updating the street tree ordinance and manual (Seattle Department of Transportation – 2012/2013)
• Enrolling 1,000 acres of forested parklands in the restoration process to remove invasive species and plant native trees and understory plants (Parks and Recreation Department through the Green Seattle Partnership - 2012)
• Adopting a "Green Factor" policy for new developments, and updating tree regulations for private property (Department of Planning and Development - 2009 and 2013)
• Using i-Tree Eco to analyse the structure, function, and economic benefits of Seattle’s urban forest (2012)

A first major update of the UFMP was adopted in September 2013. To more clearly convey the importance of engaging Seattle residents and organisations along with City staff in the care of the urban forest, the term stewardship was incorporated into the plan’s title. The 2013 Urban Forest Stewardship Plan (UFSP) maintained both the citywide and land-use based canopy cover targets previously set. Building upon the enhanced baseline data on forest structure and benefits provided by 2012 i-Tree Eco study, the UFSP introduced additional measurable objectives to:

• Improve the health and longevity of the urban forest through widening and enhancing the age and species distribution of Seattle's tree population, and
• Achieve a net increase in the functions the urban forest performs and the related environmental, economic, and social benefits it deliver. 

Like previously with the UFMP, the recommendations identified in the 2013 UFSP have provided the basis for developing yearly work plans for action. These are made available on the City’s website, alongside yearly progress reports.

​A comprehensive canopy cover study was conduted in 2016. The high resolution Lidar technology used for the mapping yielded much more detailed and reliable data than the City had ever had access to before. This revealed a higher citywide canopy cover than expected (28%, +/-1% error margin), confirmed strong differences accross land uses, as well as between neighbourhoods within individual land uses. The City now intends to revise its citywide and management units-focused canopy cover targets and release an updated Urban Forest Stewardship Plan in 2019.

FURTHER DETAILS & PDF DOWNLOAD

Project team:

​The plans were prepared by the City of Seattle Urban Forest Interdepartmental Team, involving representatives from the eight City department involved with or affecting trees.
​All plans were subject to extensive public consultation, as well as adoption by the City Council.

Completion date:

First plan completed in 2007, with comprehensive updates every six years thereafter (2013, 2019). 

Further information:

1. Visit Trees for Seattle, the City of Seattle's website dedicated to the urban forest.
2. To download the plans, workplans and progress reports, visit this section of the Trees for Seattle website.
3. Watch a May 2017 webinar presentation of the 2016 Canopy Cover study findings.

Download:

Seattle's Urban Forest Stewardship Plan.pdf
File Size:	488 kb
File Type:	pdf

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Version:

This case study was originally published in Trees in the Townscape: A Guide for Decision Makers (2012). The updated version 1.1 above was released in February 2018.

Author(s):

This case study was drafted by Anne Jaluzot, based on information available on the City of Seattle's website.