Planning commissioners forward Mountlake Terraceurban forest management plan to city council

Mountlake Terrace, Wash. On Sept. 8, 2025, the Mountlake Terrace Planning Commission voted to forward the city—s first urban forest management plan to the City Council, after a public hearing and a presentation by Patrick Hutchins, the city—s environmental programs manager.

The plan lays out a five- to 10-year framework to steward and expand the city—s tree canopy, citing an inventory of 6,830 publicly managed street trees and estimating the urban forest provides about $2.5 million in annual ecosystem services, roughly $2.2 million of which the presentation attributed to stormwater benefits.

Hutchins said the plan—s five goalsengage, maintain, grow, retain and knoware intended to guide decisions across city departments and highlight partnerships with residents and community groups. He told commissioners the inventory documented roughly 89 genera and about 255 species or cultivars on public property in 2024 and that the plan recommends policies, outreach and technical steps to increase canopy equity and resilience.

"The urban forest management plan is a plan to, well, manage our urban forests," Hutchins said in the presentation. He emphasized trees as infrastructure, saying, "When proactively maintained, these public trees bring long term value and benefits to the community."

Key elements described in the presentation include: - Inventory and value estimates: The 2024 street-tree inventory counted 6,830 public trees; park plantings added about 175 trees in the last year. Hutchins reported a citywide tree equity…