The Tree Report Card

Casey Trees MissionCasey Trees MissionThe mission of Casey Trees is to restore, enhance, and protect the tree canopy of the Nation's Capital.

l d fSetting goals and measuring performance

How is the tree canopy of the Nation’s capitalHow is the tree canopy of the Nation s capital doing?

Are we being effective in our efforts to restoreAre we being effective in our efforts to restore, protect, and enhance it?

What are our goals?g

How do we reach them?

How do we measure success?How do we measure success?

GOAL: 40% tree canopy coverage (presently 35%) by g (p y ) y2035 (25 years)

8.259 km2 of new tree canopy needed (2,041 acres)

100 trees = 1 acre

Must account for loss (6%)

216,300 trees must be planted

8,600 trees per year

Goals of Tree Report Card

Develop small set of easilyDevelop small set of easily understandable metrics to be used to measure how our trees are doing and to communicate this effectively to the publicy p

Engage the public

Create opportunities forCreate opportunities for collaboration in reporting, tree planting, etc.

h dWhy a Tree Report Card?

Conceptually accessible to most peopleConceptually accessible to most people

Customary for many scientific and non-profit concernsconcerns

k l l lWorks at Multiple Scales

Allows interaction Allows interaction based on interest and knowledge

Overall GradeOverall Grade

“Analysis of UFORE data from selected cities ”

Grades for each metricGrades for

each metric

selected cities…” v. “more trees in better shape =

Background on grade for each metric

Background on grade for each metric

higher grade”

h dApproaches and Data

Absolute standard

Relative standard standard

(ideal condition)standard (curve)

Certain measures better to suited to one or the otherone or the other

Based in part on what was out there

IssuesLots of report cards – no other Tree Lots of report cards no other Tree Report cards!

Desired datasets not available

Took what was out there

Will improve with future iterations as Will improve with future iterations as better local, national, and international data becomes available

h bThe Fab Five

Coverage

Data from USDA FS NRS (30m)

http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/data/urban/

DC data from USDA FS NRS (UVM SAL)(<1m)

Issue: USDA pulled posted data and replaced with newer data since publication of TRCsince publication of TRC

Issue: 30m v. <1m

Comparison to National DatasetsComparison to National Datasets

National LandCover Dataset

High ResolutionLand Cover

Color InfraredAerial Imagery

Tree CanopyTree Canopy

100% 0%

100% 0%

Grass/ShrubBare EarthWaterBuildingsRoadsOther Paved Surfaces

Grass/ShrubBare EarthWaterBuildingsRoadsOther Paved Surfaces

%35% %

20%

UTC EstimatesDerived from 2008

imagery 2ft resolutionDerived from 2001

imagery 30m resolution

Coverage> mean

< 3rd quartile(E of MI + west coast)

l hHealth

Data from USDA FS NRS

http://www.ufore.org/about/index.html; presently migrating to http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/data/urban/

I Li it d t i t Issue: Limited to comparison to UFORE cities

l hHealth

lPlanting

D f T f P bli L dData from Trust for Public Land

http://actrees.org/files/Research/tpl urbanparksdata08 pdfpl_urbanparksdata08.pdf

DC data from GSA, NPS, and DC Octo

I Issues: TPL data from survey – did right person complete? Unknown whether contains NGO/private planting

Data request from DC UFA not honored; data available from DC OCTO not current/complete

lPlantingNext year, grade will be absolute related to UTC goal need rather than relative to other cities’ activity

Protection

D f DC UFA ( l ) d Data from DC UFA (regulatory) and Casey Trees (voluntary)

Issues: Issues: Data request from DC UFA was only partially fulfilled

There is no repository of sites for voluntary efforts – “what we happen to know”

Protection

Innovative Tree Spaces

Applications for Removal of Special Trees

300

350

400

450

50

100

150

200

250 Approved

Denied

Mitigated

0

50

2005 2006 2007 2008

Awareness

Grade generated by applying a subjective grade to USDA FS UCF subjective grade to USDA FS UCF measures

Issues: Subjective

Very fuzzy!

Awareness

Volunteer activities by preference

GRADE B

Management Plan C

Professional Staffing A 8%

73%

19%

Tree Care

Planting

Classes

Professional Staffing A

Ordinances/policies C

Advocacy organizations B

Volunteer activity B

hMeasure – Manage ‐ Achieve

Setting goals and sharing those with theSetting goals and sharing those with the community allows us to connect people to trees and work collectively towards fulfilling our mission

Allows volunteers to see their work matters and contrib tes to a bigger pict reand contributes to a bigger picture

hOutreach

hOutreach

hOutreach

http://www.caseytrees.org/geographic/maps-tools/viewer/index.php

Next StepsUpdated UFORE study (Health) 2009 (4 plots p y ( ) ( pleft)

Call to action for fall season (Planting) – Done; 22 events with ~ 400 trees scheduled

Revitalize Big Tree program (Trees of Note) No ember 2009 (A areness ProtectionNovember 2009 (Awareness, Protection, Planting)

Convene a Tree Summit (Spring 2010) toConvene a Tree Summit (Spring 2010) to engage community in canopy goal and share tools for planting (Planting, Awareness)

Next Steps

Publish 2nd annual Tree Report Card at TreePublish 2nd annual Tree Report Card at Tree Summit

Launch major tree care (watering mulch)Launch major tree care (watering mulch) initiative in summer 2010 (Protection, Awareness)

b fNot easy being first

Hope for improvement in the quantity andHope for improvement in the quantity and quality of available data

If other cities adopt Tree Report cards willIf other cities adopt Tree Report cards, will provide opportunities for comparative assessment and best practices sharing

Casey Trees MissionThe mission of Casey Trees is to restore, enhance, and protect the tree canopy of the Nation's Capital.