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Kenmore finalizes urban forestry plan with 50% canopy goal and near‑term planting actions
Summary
City staff published the completed Urban Forestry Management Plan, including a 50% canopy goal by 2045 (including St. Edward State Park), a five‑year check‑in schedule, a priority planting assessment, and immediate next steps such as a fall planting event and street‑tree management guidance.
Kenmore — The City of Kenmore has published its final Urban Forestry Management Plan (UFMP), city staff announced July 28, adopting a strategic framework that sets a 50% tree‑canopy goal by 2045 (including St. Edward State Park) and lays out short‑ and long‑term actions to protect and expand the urban forest.
What the plan does: The UFMP is a high‑level strategy that provides a program review, a community‑survey summary, an inventory of existing street trees and public trees, a revised land‑cover assessment that incorporates heat and equity metrics, and a priority planting assessment that identifies neighborhoods where planting would yield the greatest benefits for shade, heat mitigation and equity.
Key commitments: Staff said the plan includes a commitment to five‑year check‑ins to track progress toward the canopy goal and to prepare a street‑tree management plan to clarify roles and responsibilities across city departments. Immediate next steps include identifying planting areas for fall community events, compiling a consolidated street‑tree management document, and exploring incentive programs that provide trees to private property owners.
Community and scope: The plan draws on staff interviews, a community survey and a public workshop. Staff identified program‑level revisions requested during an earlier study session and incorporated them into the final plan, expanding recommendations on wildlife habitat, potential carbon offset initiatives and better integration with other city plans, including the Climate Action Plan.
Implementation note: Staff said the UFMP provides general code guidance but does not itself change code; more detailed code amendments (for example, to tree‑protection sections) would come later if council directs staff to pursue them. The plan and related materials are posted on the Kenmore Climate Action Plan page (kenmorewa.gov/cap).
