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SITE NAVIGATION

Urban Forest Plan

Equitable and Resilient Urban Forest Project

Urban Forest Plan

Equitable and Resilient Urban Forest Project

The Sacramento Equitable and Resilient Urban Forest project is a collaborative, community-based campaign to accelerate equitable expansion of urban tree canopy and tree benefits in low-canopy under-resourced neighborhoods within the city.

Funding for this project is provided by $1 million in competitively-awarded grant funding through the Inflation Reduction Act and the USDA Forest Service, Urban and Community Forestry Program in partnership with GreenLatinos. The grant-funded project term extends until November 2027; however, ongoing implementation of these grant-funded efforts is contingent on the continued availability of awarded federal funds.

The project consists of three major elements:

Urban forest expansion and community engagement

The citywide average urban tree canopy is 19%; however, tree canopy coverage varies substantially between residential areas, ranging from 10% to 40%. The project seeks to support equity in access to trees and green space by increasing tree planting efforts in low-canopy, under-resourced neighborhoods. The project scope includes planting 450 trees and installing appropriate irrigation systems to support water-wise establishment and care at parks, along streets, and on other public facilities.

Sacramento Northern Parkway: The kick-off event for the grant program brought together community groups and residents from across the city to plant trees along one mile of the Northern Parkway trail, extending from North Avenue to Arcade Creek. Together over 460 volunteers attended the event to plant 215 trees!
Additional projects to come.

Photo of people planting trees on the Sacramento Northern Parkway

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Photo credit: Lisa Stone Photography

Urban forest maintenance

This project provides systemic maintenance and storm recovery support to improve resilience of the natural riparian forest at the Sacramento Marina and Miller Regional Park, a 90-acre site that provides a rare natural recreational area in a location of the city with few other nature access opportunities.

The City has performed systemic maintenance activities including:

Pruning trees to correct structural defects and reduce end weight over buildings and walkways.
Removing trees for the following reasons:
1) uncorrectable structural defects that could result in failure over docks and walkways posing a high risk to public safety,
2) invasive non-native species that pose a risk to the health of the native riparian woodland,
3) dead trees, and
4) beaver damage to trees near structures or roads that pose a risk to property and public safety.

Before photo of trees maintenance work at the Sacramento Marina with a downed tree

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Before maintenance work was completed at the Sacramento Marina

After photo of trees maintenance work at the Sacramento Marina

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After maintenance work was completed at the Sacramento Marina

Parking lot greening

In 1983, the City implemented a parking lot shade ordinance requiring 50% tree shade cover on parking lots within 15 years of installation. However, parking lots developed prior to the ordinance were not required to have trees and many developed since have struggled to meet the requirement.

The Sacramento Urban Forest Plan found that the average parking lot canopy in the city is 15.3% and only 5% of parking lots meet or exceed 50% shading. UC Davis researchers estimated that planting trees in parking lots throughout Sacramento to reach 50% shading on paved areas would reduce hydrocarbon emissions by ~1 ton per day through reduced air and pavement surface temperatures.

This project aims to reduce urban heat islands and improve air quality through piloting a parking lot de-paving and greening project. The project will develop a “Parking Lot Greening Guidebook,” incorporating lessons learned from the pilot, to help property owners identify low-cost, high-impact greening projects for voluntary compliance with the parking lot shade ordinance. The pilot project will be pursued in 2026-2027.

Rachel Patten

Climate Action Lead

ON THIS PAGE

Equitable and Resilient Urban Forest Project

Urban forest expansion and community engagement

Urban forest maintenance

Parking lot greening

Contact the Project Manager