Oakland Urban Forest Master Plan Community Engagement

Oakland's urban forest is the collection of privately- and publicly-owned trees and woody shrubs that grow within the city. Oakland’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. To better understand both the urban forest and community tree resource, the City obtained a grant from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) as part of the California Climate Investments Program, and was approved by City Council Resolution No. 87388 C.M.S.

In 2019, Oakland contracted with Davey Resource Group, Inc. to complete a land cover assessment, community tree inventory, inventory analysis, socioeconomic and public health analysis (as it relates to tree canopy), ordinance revision, and an Urban Forest Master Plan. In 2020, Oakland also contracted with Fair Forests Consulting, LLC to better address environmental justice in the context of the urban forest and to apply equity based research in community engagement. In the community tree inventory, the City of Oakland is inventorying all trees growing on sidewalks, medians, and landscaped parks. This is a common practice in many cities across the world, as it provides data on how to best manage a city's trees. Data collected includes size, species, and location of each tree. The results will inform the project's equitable community outreach campaign.

Your input in this process will help guide the development of revised policies, processes, and the vision for the future urban forest.

Oakland's tree survey is now open and we want to hear from you! Click here to take the survey!

The project completion date is Spring 2022. Deliverables include:

Tree Canopy and Land Cover Assessment
Community tree inventory and Resource Analysis
Interactive web-based tools to explore the community tree resource
- TreeKeeper Canopy
- Storymap
Updated Ordinance language for Chapter 12.32 - Street Trees and Shrubs
Socioeconomic and Public Health Analysis
Urban Forest Master Plan

complete

Summer 2020

Tree Canopy and Land Cover Assessment Draft: Davey Resource Group used aerial imagery of the entire urban forest to evaluate tree canopy and its relationship with other primary land cover in Oakland.

complete

Spring 2021

Community Tree Inventory: An inventory of all public trees along streets, in parks, and at city facilities was completed by certified arborists in April 2021.

complete

Spring 2021

Community Tree Resource Analysis Draft: Davey Resource Group will provide a summary report highlighting the structure, composition, and benefits provided by the community tree resource.

planned

Spring 2022

Community Engagement: Oakland's community members, community groups, and urban forest stakeholders will have opportunities to participate in the planning process. The engagement plan is focused on environmental justice and equity. More information will follow on these upcoming events:

Public meetings
Community workshops
Online survey

Socioeconomic and Public Health Analysis Draft: Davey Resource Group and Fair Forests Consulting, LLC will analyze tree canopy cover and the benefits of the community forest in conjunction with socioeconomic and public health variables by Council District.

Priority Planting Analysis: Davey Resource Group will perform an analysis that helps identify and prioritize locations that would result in greater environmental and social benefits from the addition of a tree.

planned

Summer 2022

Urban Forest Master Plan Draft - review period

Funding for this project was provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as part of the California Climate Investments Program.

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