TACOMA SUCCESS STORY
Tacoma’s journey toward becoming a model large community, growing trees for resilience, began with a clear need to work with stakeholders and develop a collaborative urban forestry plan for the whole city. State funding for planning and projects along with regional initiatives and supportive champions enabled the city program to grow and establish more community partnerships and opportunities for co-design and stewardship.
Throughout the decades, Tacoma’s program has benefited from multiple funding opportunities and the support of community partners and champions. Whether cities are large or small, they can learn from Tacoma’s journey and continued evolution to develop a sustainable urban forestry program using the multiple components of the FERTILE SOIL outlined in this Trees for Resilience Toolkit.
Below is a timeline outlining the development of Tacoma’s urban forestry program and its evolution since the original 1992 Urban Forest Management Plan.
Management Plan: Urban Forest Management in Tacoma
Tacoma developed its first urban forestry-focused management plan in partnership with the City of Tacoma, Tacoma Public Utilities, Metro Parks Tacoma, and the Port of Tacoma. This plan created the platform and vision for managing the city’s urban forest resources to benefit the whole community.
Regional Ecosystem Analysis of the Puget Sound Metropolitan Area
The American Forests Regional Ecosystems Analysis, a collaborative initiative among several cities in the Puget Sound region, was a catalyst for significant policy support and growth of Tacoma’s Urban Forestry Program–centered around planning for, planting, and caring of trees to maximize their stormwater benefits.
LiDAR-based City Tree Canopy Analysis
A partnership between the city’s Urban Forestry Program and the University of Washington’s Remote Sensing & Geospatial Analysis Lab with a grant from WADNR Urban and Community Forestry to conduct a geospatial canopy cover analysis using current LiDAR data.
Urban Forest Policy added to Tacoma’s Comprehensive Plan
The inclusion of urban forest policy in the Environment and Watershed Health Element of Tacoma’s Comprehensive Plan (One Tacoma) was essential to integrating urban forest management into the planning framework of the city.
Tacoma Stormwater Management Manual
The city incorporated tree credits in their Stormwater Management Manual (Chapter 19) as part of adopting best management practices established in the WA Dept of Ecology’s Stormwater Manual for Western Washington.
City of Tacoma creates Environmental Services Department
Environmental Services became its own department and urban forestry was housed in the stormwater utility of the department and secured $200K in annual dedicated stormwater funding.
Zoning Code Updates
Tree and landscape standards (Title 13) and a user-friendly Urban Forest Manual were added to the city’s zoning code, allowing for improved care and enforcement of tree care and landscaping across the city.
Urban Forestry moves to Office of Sustainability
The city’s Urban Forestry Program moves to the Office of Environmental Policy and Sustainability (OEPS), signifying trees and tree canopy as assets beyond stormwater.
Right of Way Design Manual update
Tree and Vegetation Management (Chapter 9) is adopted into the city’s Right of Way Design Manual, and includes best management practices around planting, removing and pruning trees in the rights-of-way as well as tree protection during construction.
Expanded funding support for planning and tree care
In the 2017/18 biennium budget, the city’s program garnered $200K (one-time funding) to support development of the Urban Forest Management Plan and $30K ongoing general fund for tree assessments for construction projects.
LiDAR + Plan It Geo Tree Canopy Assessment
The city embarked on several mapping and analysis projects to accurately quantify its urban tree canopy and analyze the ecosystem services it provides and potential to address equity, human health, and climate resilience.
Expanded funding support for planning and tree care
The 2019/20 biennium budget included $45K (ongoing) city-owned tree maintenance; $160K (ongoing) hazardous tree financial assistance program; $62,500 (ongoing) tree planting in historically underserved neighborhoods; $30K (one-time) tree inventory, assessments, and work plan.
Tacoma’s Urban Forest Management Plan
A successful collaborative process ensued involving 10 city departments and 25 work groups through interviews and group meetings to understand their processes and how to improve them. These efforts turned into shared strategies and actions in the Urban Forest Management Plan.
Tacoma Community Tree Map
In Phase 1 of the project, urban forestry utilized the city’s Equity Index with tree canopy data to combine and correlate the relevant mapping throughout Tacoma, in efforts to illustrate the relationship between the environment, equity, and community health outcomes. Phase 2 involves further analysis to create a priority map, determining areas for greatest impact through stewardship strategies, and greening efforts.
Tacoma Mall Green Infrastructure Project
The Greening Research in Tacoma project (or G.R.I.T.) is an effort to understand more about how human health and increased greening intersect in South Tacoma, particularly the Tacoma Mall Neighborhood.
The Future – WHAT’S NEXT for City of Tacoma?
After over three decades of developing the tools, collaboration, and key partnerships within and beyond the community, Tacoma’s urban forestry program is poised for further growth and reaching set goals for a healthy and thriving community with trees.