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Page 3 of 5 <br />4. Integrate trees from the start. <br /> <br />Key findings of the report include: <br />1. Canopy cover is increasing through improved management action <br />2. Trees on private property provide the majority of the City’s urban forest canopy <br />3. The future of Pleasanton’s urban forest may be at risk without active measures to <br />increase species diversity <br />4. Additional funding is required for the City to achieve its urban forest goals (essentially, <br />maintaining what we have) <br />5. There is a need for a team dedicated to the health of the urban forest. <br /> <br />The implementation and monitoring plan sets short-, intermediate-, and long-term actions to <br />manage the urban forest. The actions, such as planting 50 trees per year, maintaining trees for <br />a three-year establishment period, educating the public about the urban forest's importance, <br />and promoting tree giveaways, are reasonable and measurable actions that can be <br />implemented to meet the goals of the UFMP. <br /> <br />The UFMP defines a strategy to ensure an equitable, resilient, and sustainably managed urban <br />forest and clearly and concisely communicates a framework for the long-term care, <br />preservation and expansion of the community’s urban forest. To establish equitability and help <br />ensure the urban forest remains healthy, the plan establishes a 25 percent canopy cover goal <br />citywide. Currently, a number of neighborhoods meet or exceed the 25 percent goal, and the <br />overall canopy cover is 25.3 percent. The plan establishes actions for an equal distribution of <br />the urban forest among every neighborhood and district within the city. <br /> <br />The plan guides future Tree Preservation Ordinance updates, tree inventory updates, and <br />maintenance management, as well as public outreach and education regarding the city’s urban <br />forest. The UFMP is comprehensive enough to provide a broad vision for the future of the city’s <br />urban forest and detailed enough to address individual community concerns, such as potential <br />hazards with trees relating to storms and fires, infrastructure conflicts and the urban heat <br />island effect, which were some of the most important topics staff heard from the public <br />outreach conducted during the plan creation. <br /> <br />Part 2 - Technical Assessment <br />This section is tailored for City staff and provides a detailed account of Pleasanton’s urban <br />forestry program, including a deep dive into the analysis of the City’s canopy cover, budgeting <br />and community engagement. <br /> <br />Funding for urban forest management varies by year but is approximately $1.2 million annually <br />when averaged over time. The City spends a similar amount per tree as Dublin and is in about <br />the middle of the table as far as other cities’ tree maintenance spending, with the majority of <br />the expenses (97 percent this last year) being general fund money. The funding covers <br />pruning, removals, management activities, storm cleanup, downed tree cleanup, planting, and <br />establishment care for the city’s 23,000+ trees. The need for funding is expected to increase <br />every year and will top out at approximately $3.2 million by the end of the 25-year <br />management period covered by the UFMP (assuming a 3% annual inflation rate). However, <br />Page 10 of 27