San Francisco's Urban Forest/Street Tree Financing Study

In an effort to address San Francisco, California's declining urban forestry budget, the city's Planning Department commissioned an economic consultant, AECOM, to conduct a "Street Tree Financing Study." This study evaluates the costs and benefits associated with street trees and identifies a range of potential funding strategies.

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate a comprehensive, municipally-operated street tree program in San Francisco, in which the Department of Public Works (DPW) would be responsible for the planting and maintenance of all trees within the public right of-way. This report also explores the various options for expanding resources to better maintain, augment and care for the city’s street trees.

San Francisco’s urban forest is comprised of approximately 670,000 trees on both public and private property. These trees help purify water, absorb air pollution, sequester atmospheric carbon and provide wildlife habitat, among other benefits. The city’s urban forest removes more than 287 tons of atmospheric pollutants and 5,100 tons of carbon each year, while the direct economic benefits of street trees include increased property values, reduced heating and cooling costs and greater economic activity in commercial areas. San Francisco’s street trees provide over $7.5 million in combined benefits each year, according to research conducted by the U.S. Forest Service’s Center for Urban Forest Research.

This study evaluated two scenarios based on San Francisco’s goal of increasing its urban forest: Accelerated Planting and Moderate Planting. Costs were estimated for major activities associated with San Francisco’s street trees: Planting, Establishment (early tree care and watering), Maintenance and Sidewalk Repair. The report provides a table with average annual costs associated with each scenario. 

The study finds that a comprehensive street tree program would entail not just maintenance, but would expand San Francisco’s urban forest by a minimum of 50 percent, benefiting residents citywide. A municipal program would add thousands of new trees each year, compared to several hundred under current conditions, a situation that is causing the urban forest to shrink, as new tree plantings do not currently keep pace with mortality. According to the plan, a comprehensive municipal program would produce a larger, healthier urban forest, benefiting not just property owners but all San Francisco residents.

The Planning Department, in collaboration with the Department of Public Works and Friends of the Urban Forest, is creating a plan to promote San Francisco's urban forest with a primary focus on street trees. The Urban Forest Plan will identify policies and strategies to proactively manage and grow the City’s street tree population, and is being built in conjunction with the Street Tree Financing Study.

 

 

 

 

Publication Date: October 2012

Related Organizations:

  • San Francisco Planning Department
  • City and County of San Francisco, California

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