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Tree Commission: Charlottesville canopy estimated near 38%, commission urges more staff and long‑term planting
Summary
The Charlottesville Tree Commission told council the city’s urban canopy has fallen to about 38% (Planet Geo 2023 estimate), described stark neighborhood disparities and a need for thousands of annual plantings, and urged hiring a second urban forester to manage preservation and code work.
Micaisha Tolbert, outgoing chair of the Charlottesville Tree Commission, told the City Council on Jan. 21 that a Planet Geo analysis places the city’s urban tree canopy at roughly 38% and that the commission will seek more precise, on‑the‑ground vegetation analysis this year.
The commission said that loss reflects multiple drivers — storms, development, pests and invasive vines — and warned of stark disparities across neighborhoods. Tolbert highlighted two neighborhoods, 10th and Page and Star Hill, as being under the commission’s 20% vulnerability benchmark.
“Last year we discussed the urban tree canopy decline dramatically going from 45% to now 38%,” Tolbert said. She and other commissioners emphasized that the 38% figure is the commission’s best 2023 estimate but that a new study and ground survey are expected to refine that number.
Susan McKinnon, incoming chair, presented the commission’s recent planting and removal counts for city property: 181 one‑ and two‑inch caliper trees planted and about 130 removals this year, a net gain of 51 trees on city property. Including nonprofit plantings and a public utility giveaway, the combined public/private totals reached 476 trees for the year.
Commissioners framed those counts against longer‑term scenarios from the Planet Geo materials: they said roughly 2,600 trees would need to be planted annually to maintain a 38% canopy and about 3,600 annually to recover to earlier higher rates. The commission also described an urban woodland restoration program that restored more than 24 acres and planted about 1,260 seedlings, while noting seedlings take decades to provide mature canopy benefits.
The Tree Commission urged the council to add capacity in city staff. McKinnon said the commission is requesting a second urban forester, to be placed in the Department of Neighborhood Development Services (NDS) and work jointly with Parks & Recreation: “One forester cannot handle all the code implementation, enforcement and the forest management work,” she said.
City staff acknowledged receipt of the personnel request through the normal budget process. The City Manager said the FY26 budget discussions will include this request and that council will see staff analysis as part of budget preparation.
The council did not take a formal recorded vote on the staffing request during the meeting; staff said the request has been submitted and will be considered through the FY26 budget process.
