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Fairfax City Council adopts 20-year Urban Forest Master Plan, asks for regular implementation updates
Summary
The City Council unanimously adopted Fairfax’s first Urban Forest Master Plan on Feb. 10, 2026, formalizing goals to protect and grow the city’s tree canopy and create a centralized urban forestry program. Council members pushed staff for a report-back on implementation sequencing and measurable targets.
Fairfax City Council voted unanimously Feb. 10 to adopt the city’s first Urban Forest Master Plan, a 20-year roadmap intended to protect, grow and manage the city’s trees and urban canopy.
The plan, presented by Urban Forester Anna Safford and consultants, calls for a centralized urban forestry division, expanded community stewardship, and a mix of short-, mid- and long-term actions. It maps a baseline canopy at roughly 40 percent of city land area, inventories more than 11,000 public trees (excluding extensive forested parkland), and sets key performance indicators including a modest citywide canopy increase of 1–2 percent over 10–15 years and a targeted 5 percent increase in identified low-canopy census blocks by 2035.
Supporters said the plan fills a long-standing need for coordinated care and clearer funding pathways. “This gives us a more strategic plan to move forward and ties urban forestry into existing programs,” Safford said in the presentation.
Some councilmembers and public commenters urged stronger, time-bound targets and clearer enforcement mechanisms. Councilmember Peterson proposed an amendment asking staff to return by the second quarter with a timetable and process to establish explicit numerical canopy targets, regulatory protections, and accountability measures. The amendment failed on a 2–4 roll-call vote, but staff committed to an annual work plan and a five-year outlook: an implementation action plan was said to be expected by the first quarter and an annual “state of the urban forest” report thereafter.
City staff noted more than 50 actions in the plan are already underway under the Sprout Initiative, and highlighted metrics to track survival rates of new plantings, acres of invasive removal, and volunteer hours. The plan’s implementation chapter assigns actions by short/mid/long timeframes and identifies partner organizations, expected resource demands, and metrics for success.
The council adoption follows public engagement that involved steering committees, public meetings, a survey and more than 2,700 unique visitors to the project web page. Several residents thanked staff and consultants while calling on the council to set the priorities that will guide implementation.
The adoption takes effect with staff preparing a detailed annual work plan; council will have further opportunities to consider regulatory or budgetary changes as staff returns with implementation milestones and any recommended policy changes.
