Mountlake Terrace council adopts urban forest management plan to protect and grow city tree canopy

The Mountlake Terrace City Council unanimously adopted an Urban Forest Management Plan on Sept. 18 after a presentation from the city’s environmental programs manager and a short public hearing. The plan sets goals and metrics for retaining, growing and equitably distributing the city’s tree canopy and identifies implementation options that the council can fund in future budget cycles.

City Environmental Programs Manager Patrick Hutchins told the council the plan is a guidance document that lays out measurable targets, specific strategies and metrics to track progress. “This plan is grounded in community values, rooted in equity and focused on resilience,” Hutchins said, noting the city’s street‑tree inventory shows nearly 7,000 city‑managed trees and a current canopy coverage of roughly 32 percent.

The urban forest plan matters because trees deliver “green‑infrastructure” benefits—stormwater…