Supervisors Hear Options to Stop Decline in San Francisco's Urban Forest; AECOM Study Estimates $23M'$31M Annual Cost for Street-Tree Program

San Francisco supervisors and city officials on the Government Audit and Oversight Committee on Tuesday heard a series of presentations and public comments about the city's failing maintenance cycle for street and park trees and possible financing strategies to reverse canopy decline.

Supervisor Scott Wiener, who requested the hearing, said budget cuts over many years have left the Department of Public Works and Recreation and Parks unable to keep routine maintenance on schedule and that the department's recent plan to transfer maintenance responsibility for roughly 23,000 to 24,000 street trees to adjacent property owners is creating inconsistent care and safety risks. "By any measure, this is not the right way to take care of our street trees," Wiener said, arguing the city should pursue a way for DPW to take back responsibility and establish stable, dedicated funding.

Why it matters: city staff and consultants testified that preventive, programmatic maintenance — including block pruning and routine inspections — is more efficient and reduces emergency responses, sidewalk repairs and liability claims. AECOM's financing analysis focused on street trees estimated that, in a scenario to…