Columbus Urban Forestry Master Plan Progress Update for December 2022

City of Columbus, Ohio sent this bulletin at 12/14/2022 10:30 AM EST

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

Urban Forestry Master Plan Header

Columbus Urban Forestry Master Plan Progress Update for December 2022

Below is an update on the progress Columbus Recreation and Parks Department has made with the City’s Urban Forestry Master Plan (UFMP), which is the first Citywide, strategic plan to invest long-term in Columbus’ trees.

  • The department’s work to update Columbus' public tree code continues! The public tree code and Tree Technical Manual are being finalized. We presented proposed changes in an interdepartmental meeting and are holding follow-up listening sessions with other City departments to work through implementation logistics. These efforts will ensure the updated public tree code can be enforced effectively to protect public trees in Columbus. We will have more information to share with you in 2023! This supports Action 15 as well as Action 9. 
  • Columbus' Urban Heat Island report is available! Volunteers collected data on Aug. 12 to map the hottest areas in the city. We will be using the heat study data in our new urban tree canopy assessment, which will be released next year. See the results from the report. 
  • The City’s street tree inventory data collection is now 90 percent complete! We are excited to share this finalized data with you in 2023. This process involves an arborist inspecting each tree to gather key information (species, condition, size and location) and collecting available planting spaces. This information is crucial to proactively managing our public trees, supporting Actions 4 and 8.
  • We are finishing up the City’s fall tree plantings. To date, 80 percent of these tree plantings were in low and middle income areas. This relates to Action 6.
  • The tree giveaway hosted by Green Columbus in October was extremely successful! More than 2,500 FREE trees were given to more than 1,500 Columbus residents to plant in their own yards. The department hosted a tree giveaway at Barack Community Center, which was the first time the City hosted a free tree giveaway in support of the South Side trees initiative. It was a successful collaboration—more than 400 trees were given away to residents at the event. Huge thanks to everyone who planted a tree! This relates to Action 5.

Thank you for your support of the UFMP! Learn more about the UFMP at columbusufmp.org.