Developing a Street Tree Master Plan, Community forestry planning

Community
Forestry
Program
Work Team,
Cornell Univ.

Community Forestry
Home Page

Community Forestry Planning

Developing a Master Plan

Acknowledgments (work team members)

Conducting a Street Tree Inventory

Street Tree Project History

Hiring the SWAT Team

Using Local Volunteers

Using Municipal Staff

Training Procedure

Utilizing the street tree inventory

PR Documents and Training Downloads

Tree Inventory Template Download

Resources

Site contact:
Dr. Nina L. Bassuk
Dept. of Horticulture
Room 20 Plant Science
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Phone: (607) 255-4586
Fax:(607) 255-9998
Email: nlb2@cornell.edu

Community Forestry
Community forestry planning

Developing a Street Tree Master Plan

The development of a master plan is an important tool in managing our community forests. A management plan establishes a clear set of priorities and objectives. The Northeast Center for Urban and Community Forestry has developed A guide: Developing a street and park tree management plan plus a sample management plan to assist small to medium sized communities in developing management plans. Other aspects of a master plan include a municipal ordinance and a street tree inventory.

Why a Master Plan?

To decrease the risk and the cost associated with tree branch failures.
To provide greater energy savings and pollution reduction through maintaining a healthier urban forest.
To increase storm water recharge and reduce the need for building more storm drainage infrastructure.
To be eligible for a $30/per tree cost recovery from your local utility company (currently only Niagara Mohawk) if you have a plan for responsible tree planting under electric wires.
To help beautify the environment and create a community identity.

See, for example, what the Village Green Committee in Red Hook, NY, is doing ensure the long-term health of the village's tree population.

Getting Started - Citizen Tree Groups

Developing a master plan takes input from many different individuals that will be impacted by the management of the community forest. Formal committees can assist tree managers in relevant ways to support, encourage and improve the growth of the community forest. Committee members may be a village trustee, a department of transportation employee or a resident that cares about the village trees. Also, work with local agencies such as Cornell Cooperative Extension or the DEC to help set up the management planning process. This group may be empowered to oversee the community forest master plan by the municipal tree ordinance. The next step for this group would be to organize the completion of an inventory of all the street trees within the municipal boundaries.

How to Write a Municipal Tree Ordinance

A tree ordinance is a formal long-term policy for establishing tree care policy. An ordinance sets up permanent procedures and establishes legal authority. The tree ordinance establishes a permanent and official policy for the community. It declares standards for selection, planting and maintenance. It can also provide a reasonable basis for dealing with the public. How do you get one in place?

Start with a sample tree ordinance
Work with a small group representing various interests including local government, street maintenance, tree care professionals, utilities, and the general public.
Make the ordinance clear, reasonable, and concise.
Keep the process as public as possible.
Follow standard procedures to get the ordinance into law. Publicize the ordinance widely after it becomes law.

The Street Tree Inventory

A tree inventory is a listing and description of trees and planting sites within the municipal right of way. An inventory is useful to:

Provide an overview of the age, type, and condition of trees.
Allows tree managers to set priorities for pruning and removal work.
Supplies guidelines for new tree selection.
The inventory provides the basis for the community forest master plan.

Conducting a tree inventory usually means hiring an arborist or consulting forester. The Community Forestry Program Work Team has developed a fast response or SWAT team approach to provide small communities with an inexpensive alternative. In this method, a Student Weekend-Arborist Team comes into the community and in one or two days, inventories all trees and planting spaces within the municipality. Alternatively, the method has also been adapted to use volunteers from the community. Find out how your community can participate at Conducting a street tree inventory.

© Copyright, Department of Horticulture, Cornell University.