Watsonville’s urban forest is the collection of privately- and publicly-owned trees and woody shrubs that grow within the City. Watsonville’s community trees are a subset of the urban forest and consist of trees in publicly owned lands and rights-of-way including on streets, in City parks, and at City-owned facilities. All of these trees provide public health/well-being and environmental benefits to residents, visitors, and neighboring communities. The City recognizes that trees are a valued resource, a critical component of the urban infrastructure, and part of the community’s identity. To better understand, protect, and manage both the urban forest and community tree resource, the City of Watsonville and Watsonville Wetlands Watch obtained a Climate Investments Grant from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). 

In 2021, Watsonville contracted with Davey Resource Group, Inc. to help create the Watsonville Community Forestry Project (Urban Forestry Grant agreement 8GG19401). There are many deliverables of the project including: 

• Community tree inventory and Resource Analysis

• Tree Canopy and Land Cover Assessment

• Interactive web-based tools to explore the community tree resource

  • TreeKeeper Canopy

  • Storymap

• Tree Policy Documents

  • Tree Preservation Ordinance language

  • Tree Species List

• Community Engagement

  • Survey 

  • Meetings

  • Pop ups

  • Tree planting events 

• Urban Forest Management Plan

The main deliverable is the Urban Forest Management Plan which will guide the care of trees, tree planting, and growth of canopy cover over the next 50 years. The plan will communicate the community’s vision for the future urban forest and advocate to policy makers for desired changes. The plan will include best management practices and policy for managing community trees, along with long and short-term goals for canopy cover, tree preservation, and other goals that will be identified during the engagement process. The plan will follow the principles of adaptative management by describing what we currently have, outlining what we want for the future urban forest, providing a “road map” for how we get there, and check points to keep us on track. 

You can get involved with the community engagement aspect of this project by taking the online survey, attending meetings, and/or other events. Your input in this process will help guide the development of urban forest policies, processes, and the vision for the future urban forest.