ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT MEETING AGENDA PACKET

Page 4 of 5 urban forest. The UFMP is intended to be comprehensive enough to provide a broad vision for the future of the city’s urban forest and detailed enough to address individual community concerns, such as potential hazards with trees relating to storms and fires, infrastructure conflicts and the urban heat island effect, which were some of the most important topics staff heard from the public outreach conducted during the plan creation. Part 2 - Technical Assessment This section is tailored for city staff and provides a detailed account of Pleasanton’s urban forestry program, including a deep dive into the analysis of the city’s canopy cover, budgeting and community engagement. Funding for urban forest management is currently approximately $1.2 million annually. The funding covers pruning, removals, management activities, storm cleanup, downed tree cleanup, planting, and establishment care for the city’s 23,000+ trees. The need for funding is expected to increase to approximately $3.2 million by the end of the 25-year management period covered by the UFMP so the city is going to need to identify additional funding sources for urban forest management. The projected cost of management, along with the need for community engagement and support, is why the plan recommends creating a dedicated staff that focuses on the urban forest and why working with residents, developers, the school district, and other property owners to maintain the health of the urban forest is so critical. The technical assessment section analyzes the urban forest's environmental impact, such as carbon sequestration, average pollutant capture, avoided runoff, avoided emissions, and structural and functional values. Dollar amounts are estimated for these benefits, which will be useful for education, long-term planning, and securing tree program funding. The UFMP found that a healthy urban forest is one of the first lines of defense against storms and climate change impacts. Urban forests greatly reduce the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect and help absorb the sun’s heat. Studies have found adjacent pavement and buildings could be 50 to 90 degrees hotter than the surrounding air temperature. Part 3 – Appendices The appendices provide best management practice standards, wildfire planning and answers to frequently asked questions that are useful for property owners and city staff. They also include a list of trees recommended for Pleasanton, recommendations for potential funding sources, solutions for infrastructure and sidewalk conflicts, and other documentation relevant to, or obtained during, the public outreach process. OUTREACH The creation of the Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP) is rooted in an extensive public outreach process, summarized in the background section of this agenda report and shown in detail in the Appendix of the UFMP, so that the plan represents the desires and needs of the community regarding the urban forest.