Star Tallahassee logo - link to main homepage

Sign In

 

  • Residents
    • Change for Change
    • DigiTally
    • Ethics Board
    • Fire
    • Neighborhood Services
    • Newsroom
    • OpenGov
    • Parks and Trails
    • Pet Adoption
    • Police
    • Public Safety
    • Public Transportation
    • Traffic
    • Title VI
    • Utilities
  • Business
    • Community Redevelopment
    • Job Openings
    • Online Permitting
    • City Owned Real Estate
    • Vendor Information
    • Procurement
    • Economic Vitality
    • Employee Login
  • Visitors
    • Airport
    • Arts & Culture (COCA)
    • Events
    • Fire
    • Parks and Activities
    • Police
    • Senior Center
    • Visit Tallahassee
  • Our City
    • 2023 Budget
    • Charters/Ordinances
    • Citizen Advisory Boards
    • City Attorney
    • Inspector General
    • City Leadership
    • City Treasurer-Clerk
    • Community Redevelopment
    • Current Projects
    • OpenGov
    • Retirement
    • Tallahassee Brand Library
    • WCOT City Television
    • Ethics Board
    • Strategic Plan
  • Services
    • Airport
    • Animal Services
    • Community Redevelopment
    • City Leadership
    • Current Projects
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Employment
    • Environmental Practices
    • Financial Transparency
    • Fire
    • Growth Management
    • Neighborhood Services
    • Newsroom
    • Parks & Recreation
    • Police
    • Procurement
    • Public Safety
    • Public Transportation
    • Senior Services
    • Real Estate Management
    • Report a Problem
    • Utilities
    • Traffic
    • WCOT City Television
    • PLACE
      Planning, Blueprint, Minority Business, Economic Vitality
    • Other Agencies
  • Residents
    • ADA/Non-Discrimination/Title VI
    • Change for Change
    • DigiTally
    • Ethics Board
    • Fire
    • Meeting Calendar
    • Neighborhood Services
    • Newsroom
    • OpenGov
    • Parking
    • Parks and Trails
    • Pet Adoption
    • Police
    • Public Transportation
    • Traffic
    • Utilities
  • Business
    • City Owned Real Estate
    • Community Redevelopment
    • Employee Login
    • Job Openings
    • Online Permitting
    • Procurement
    • Starting a Business in Tallahassee
    • Vendor Information
    • Volunteer
  • Visitors
    • Airport
    • Arts & Culture (COCA)
    • Events
    • Fire
    • Parking
    • Parks and Activities
    • Police
    • Senior Center
    • Visit Tallahassee
  • Our City
    • 2024 Budget
    • Charters/Ordinances
    • Citizen Advisory Boards
    • City Attorney
    • City Leadership
    • City Treasurer-Clerk
    • Community Redevelopment
    • Current Projects
    • Ethics Board
    • Inspector General
    • OpenGov
    • Procurement
    • Retirement
    • Strategic Plan
    • Tallahassee Brand Library
    • Fleet
  • Services
    • Airport
    • Animal Services
    • Community Redevelopment
    • City Leadership
    • Current Projects
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Employment
    • Environmental Practices
    • Financial Transparency
    • Fire
    • Growth Management
    • Neighborhood Services
    • Newsroom
    • Parks & Recreation
    • PLACE
      Planning, Blueprint, Minority Business, Economic Vitality
    • Police
    • Procurement
    • Public Transportation
    • Senior Services
    • Real Estate Management
    • Report a Problem
    • Retirement
    • Utilities
    • Traffic
City of Tallahassee
  • Planning
  • Office of Economic Vitality
  • Blueprint
COT Facebook COT Twitter Instagram WCOT YouTube

Urban Forest Master Plan

View the Urban Forest Master Plan

 

Goal 1: Improve Canopy Quality

Improve quality and safety of the urban forest to ensure sustainability.

 

Tallahassee’s urban forest is made up of a preponderance of short lived, weak wooded species such as carolina laurelcherry, water oak, laurel oak, and camphor tree, an invasive species. Just these species alone make up a combined 38% of our urban forest. Additionally, these types of trees have very low wind resistance, making our urban forest vulnerable to storms. Increasing the populations of long lived, high value urban species such as live oak and southern magnolia will improve the quality of our urban forest. Diversity of species is very important for overall urban forest health, and while increasing populations of desirable trees we should ensure that no one species makes up more than 10% of the total tree population.

 

Species

 

Wind Resistance

(Credit: University of Florida IFAS Hurricane Recovery Research.)

 

Similarly, looking at age diversity and condition of trees we see the results of an urban forest with a high proportion of short lived species prone to damage. Young tree population is high, pointing to strong planting programs but also lots of regeneration of species that grow from seed easily. But other categories are under recommended standard. Many of our most common tree types simply don’t live that long, and once they achieve mature size they are typically in decline due to structural issues and decay.

Tree Condition % of Public Trees
Good 3%
Fair 78%
Poor 13%
Dead/dying 4%
Unknown 2%

 

Diameter % of Public Trees Industry Standard
0" - 8" Young 67% 40%
9" - 17" Established 20% 30%
18" - 24" Maturing 7% 20%
Over 24" Mature 5% 10%

Implementation

Tree Inventory

Complete an Inventory of Public Trees and Transition to Proactive Management

Inventory of Public Trees

Tree inventories provide valuable information that tree managers can use to plan and budget for maintenance and ensure that planting programs support a diverse and resilient urban forest. The City’s Community Beautification Division is in the process of completing a full public tree inventory (see map image for completed areas)..

  • More than 8,700 square acres of inventory data have been collected.
  • 2021 Pro-active maintenance recommendations completed.
  • 2022 Pro-active maintenance recommendations currently under evaluation.
  • The 2023 inventory phase will add an additional 2,600 acres, and is partially funded through an Urban & Community Forestry grant.
  • Top five species in areas collected (not representative of entire population): Live Oak (17%), Crepe Myrtle (15%), Water Oak (12%), Sabal Palm (6%), Camphor Tree (4%).

 

Tree Preservation & Planting

Evaluate and Update Tree Preservation and Planting Regulations

Tree Preservation and Planting Regulations are found in Chapter 5 - Environmental Management of the Land Development Code. These regulations should support the goals of the Urban Forest Master Plan, and several efforts have been completed since acceptance of the plan.

  • Tree Matrix: A panel of experts including local Landscape Architects, Horticulturists from local Extension offices, and leaders in the nursery industry met with City forestry and arboricultural staff from Planning, Growth Management, Parks, Community Beautification, Electric Utilities and Public Infrastructure to review and expand recommended tree species, resulting in the creation of a “Tree Matrix” describing allowable species for various uses to ensure planting of “the right tree in the right place.”
  • Right Tree Right Place: Planning appropriate space for trees in an urban environment is an ongoing process. Pro-active solutions to minimize conflict between trees and hardscape are in a constant state of improvement. Solutions include using root barriers, alternative pavement materials and design guidelines for spaces that accommodate trees and different uses.
  • The City Growth Management Department has a Video Library that includes helpful videos that explain Code regulations and permitting, including the tree regulations. https://www.talgov.com/growth/growth.aspx
  • Development Code Analysis: An analysis of past development projects was completed to evaluate the effectiveness of existing development regulations. This included determining pre and post-development tree canopy coverage, diversity, wind resistance, and other factors.

 

Tree Availability

Address the Challenge of Tree Availability at Local Nurseries

During development of the UFMP, a commonly stated challenge was the lack of availability of a wide range of native species at local nurseries. In order to support a healthy, diverse urban forest, a wide variety of species needs to be available to purchase, both in retail and commercially for large planting projects.

  • Representatives from the nursery industry and local nurseries were included on the panel that developed the Recommended Tree List, and this list will help increase market demand for lesser-known species.
  • City departments routinely contract grow with local nurseries in order to ensure quantities of hard to obtain native pants for public planting projects and programs.

 

 

 

 

Goal 2: Maintain Canopy Levels

Maintain an extensive tree canopy in balance with growth and and change.

 

Improvements to the quality of our canopy are necessary in order to continue to enjoy extensive tree canopy into the future, however, even with high populations of less desirable species it is important to emphasize that a dense tree canopy is still a major asset. While we put a focus on recomposition, we should continue to prioritize maintaining a high level of canopy through strong planting programs and development regulations that focus on the right kinds of trees, properly planted.

Coverage

 

 

Coverage

Implementation

Community Goals

Adopt Urban Forest Master Plan and Incorporate into Community Goals

The Urban Forest Master Plan was adopted by City Commission on December 5, 2018.

  • The City Commission included the target of maintaining tree canopy coverage in the Strategic Plan.
  • The City Commission also adopted the target of achieving “Tree City USA” status for thirty consecutive years in the Strategic Plan.
  • Additionally, the UFMP has been incorporated into other broad community planning efforts, including the Canopy Roads Management Plan, Tallahassee Community Resilience Plan; Local Mitigation Strategy, Sustainability Spotlight, and the update to the Tallahassee-Leon County Comprehensive Plan Land Use and Mobility elements.

 

Private Property Tree Planting

Encourage Voluntary Tree Planting and Tree Planting on Private Property

The quantity and quality of the City’s tree canopy is extremely dependent on the existence, composition, and longevity of trees on private property, which makes up 70% of Tallahassee’s tree canopy. Providing opportunities for property owners to plant trees and to engage with tree care professionals is very important for the health and sustainability of our urban forest.

  • The Adopt a Tree program, administered by the Community Beautification division, continues to be very successful at providing a broad mix of mostly native trees to homeowners.
  • The Urban Forestry at Home blog, created during the pandemic, is a continuous source of information on tree planting and tree care for homeowners.
  • Social media and outreach through the Planning Department continues to focus on tree planting messaging.

 

Public Tree Planting

Tree Care and Planting in the Public Realm

Trees and landscape are an important part of almost every public project that the city implements. New parks, sidewalks, and roads all have a tree preservation and planting component, and these projects are major opportunities to improve our urban forest through the planting of long-lived, wind resistant native tree species.

  • Since adoption of the UFMP, species choices for public planting projects have aligned with the goal to increase the population of the right kinds of tree species. The Recommended Tree List is an important tool that assists staff in choosing the preferred species types.
  • Public tree planting has outweighed tree removals. Since 2019, 1,864 public trees have been removed due to poor condition (this does not include invasive species removal and control), and over 4000 trees have been planted in public spaces.
  • The 2021 and 2023 Arbor Day events planted over 1200 trees at Governor’s Square Park encompassing over 15 acres of formerly mowed turf grass.

 

 

 

 

Goal 3: Engage the Larger Community

Engage and partner with the larger community on urban forestry efforts.

 

Seventy percent of Tallahassee’s urban forest is on private property, so the City cannot do this alone. It is crucial that our community recognizes the value of trees and takes action to plant, preserve, and manage trees to support the community goals.

Planting

Implementation

Stakeholders

Continue to meet with Stakeholder Team

The care and improvement of our urban forest depends on an entire community of professionals and advocates. The Stakeholder team that was established during the development of the plan will continue to work together on plan implementation.

  • Team meetings with city forestry and arboricultural staff and stakeholders including local landscape architects, nursery industry, local consulting arborists, and Neighborhood and Homeowners Associations.
  • Partnering with community groups is ongoing, for example, Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Affairs is partnering with the Apalachee Audubon Society to control invasive species at Lake Elberta Park.
  • Planning staff provides guest lectures for FSU’s Environmental Planning classes each semester, introducing a new class of professionals to the concepts of urban forest planning each year.

 

Public Engagement

Outreach, Education, and Public Engagement

  • Talgov.com/tallytrees was created as the “hub” for information about Tallahassee’s urban forest. This website will continue to be updated and expanded based on plan implementation and community feedback.
  • The Urban Forestry at Home blog, created during the pandemic, is a continuous source of information on tree planting and tree care for homeowners.
  • Public education included publication of several articles in the Tallahassee Democrat, American Planning Association Magazine, and presentations for local certified arborists, Big Bend Chapter of the Audubon Society, Tallahassee Garden Club, Society of American Foresters, and Florida Recreation and Park Association.
  • Planning staff continues to meet with Neighborhood and Homeowner’s Associations and other interested community groups to speak specifically about the urban forest in their neighborhoods and how residents can be engaged to improve and maintain their trees.

 

 

 

Please contact us if you are interested in learning more about our urban forest! Staff would be happy to attend your organization or HOA meeting to present information and answer questions. Email us at planning@talgov.com.

 

Urban Forestry at Home Urban Forestry Tree Matrix
Star Tallahassee logo - link to main homepage
  • Contact Info
  • Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department
  • 435 North Macomb Street
  • Tallahassee FL 32301
  • 850-891-6400
  • Maps and Directions
  • Contact Us
  • City Commission
  • John E. Dailey, Mayor
  • Jeremy Matlow
  • Jacqueline "Jack" Porter
  • Curtis Richardson
  • Dianne Williams-Cox
  • City Officials
  • Reese Goad
    City Manager
  • Amy M. Toman
    City Attorney
  • Dennis R. Sutton
    Inspector General
  • Jim Cooke
    City Treasurer-Clerk
  • City Services
  • Utility Accounts
  • Parking Tickets
  • Report a Problem
  • TPD Online Reporting
  • Accessibility
  • Email Subscriptions
  • ADA/Non-Discrimination
  • Online Kennel
  • Driver Info Service
  • Athletics Registration
  • Public Records
  • WCOT Online
  • Talgov.com
  • Directory/Site Map
  • Talgov Apps
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Feedback
  • Employee Login
  • Translate This Site
  • Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department
  • 435 North Macomb Street
  • Tallahassee FL 32301
  • 850-891-6400
  • Maps and Directions
  • Contact Us
  • Directory/Site Map
  • Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Translate This Site
Loading... Loading...