Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Urban Forestry topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
South Salt Lake hears Urban Forest Plan with goal of 1,000 trees per year and 'No Net Loss' protection
Summary
City staff presented a draft Urban Forest Plan calling for increased tree planting and protections after a reported 17% canopy loss since 2006, a downtown canopy target rising from 0.5% to 9%, and recommended new ordinances and staffing to reach the goals.
South Salt Lake City Council members received a staff briefing on a draft Urban Forest Plan that sets citywide canopy and planting targets and recommends changes to ordinances, staffing and funding.
The presentation notes a 17% loss in tree canopy since 2006 and recommends a multi-pronged approach: preservation, education, innovation, high-impact planting and diversified funding. The plan sets an operational goal to plant 1,000 trees per year across public, private and natural areas and endorses an aspirational “No Net Loss” protection policy for the city’s public trees. Downtown targets include increasing downtown trees from 134 to 1,862 and raising downtown canopy coverage from 0.5% to 9%.
Sharen Hauri, the presenter listed in the meeting agenda, summarized performance indicators the plan will track, including tree canopy percentage, trees planted and survival rates after five years, species diversity and per-capita spending. The plan projects changes in public-tree counts and spending: public trees rising from 3,261 today to 4,100 (near-term) and 13,000 by a longer-term target, and per-capita spending estimates moving from $3.91 to $19.01 and then $26.73 in future scenarios. The presentation compares downtown benchmarks with park benchmarks (Fitts Park has about 28 trees per acre; City Hall about 10).
The plan identifies constraints and threats: limited available planting space on public streets, canopy loss across two decades, drought and competing water-conservation priorities, and weak protection for existing trees in current city practice. Recommended next steps in the presentation include creating a staffed urban-forestry team (city forester/arborist), developing protection and preservation ordinances, building a community-forestry program with stewardship and apprenticeship elements, and initiating a downtown tree-planting program.
The briefing closed with the plan’s slogan in the packet: "PROTECT TREES. PLANT TREES. EVERYWHERE. NOW." The packet material is presented to the council for consideration; the transcript records the presentation content but does not record a formal council vote or adoption of ordinances on March 25.
