by Birgitt Evans
In 2023, members of Alameda Backyard Growers (ABG), including myself, as well as other Alamedans, were invited by Danielle Mieler and her team at the City to join a working group. Together with Ryan Allen and his team at consulting firm, Dudek, we helped craft a new and exciting Urban Forest Plan (UFP) designed to increase both the health of Alameda’s trees and overall canopy cover, and attendant ecosystem services such as reducing stormwater runoff and cooling the city.
A draft of the UFP was presented to City Council for comments on February 4, 2025. Staff are now working on suggested changes and, according to Public Works Coordinator, Liz Acord, the final plan is expected to come back to City Council this fall, probably in October, for final approval.
While a number of us had changes we wanted to see, on the whole the draft UFP was excellent, a real step forward for Alameda’s trees. The plan has recommendations for nursery tree selection, tree planting, establishment care, formative pruning and mature tree pruning in Volume II, Sections 2.1 to 5.2., including:
- Nursery stock should be inspected prior to acceptance so that it is “vigorous with no signs of stress, die back, pests or disease, and no signs of mechanical injury”, does not have girdling roots and does have good branch structure.
- Specific instructions on how to plant young trees to proper depth and how to correct any root problems at planting. (See image below.)
Young tree with girdling roots and planted above soil level
- A schedule for regular watering of newly planted trees for the first five years of their lives and for mature trees during drought years to make sure they thrive.
- Specific instructions on the formative pruning of young trees and the ongoing pruning of mature trees so that it is done properly and with an eye towards future growth. (See image below.)
Gross overpruning with random cuts & no plan for future growth plus stubs not cut down to branch collars.
In addition, Volume II, Section 7.1 seeks to minimize the removal of trees on city property and states that public nuisance requests for removal should not be approved outright and that requests for removal of healthy trees should be approved “only after all practical and reasonable alternatives shall be considered.” It also states that “no more than 5% of the street trees in any given block face or a minimum of one tree per block will be removed per year unless a greater percentage is approved by the City Council.” This is an excellent approach except in the case of small trees that are dying or failing to thrive which are providing minimal ecosystem benefits. These trees could be replaced by larger, healthy specimens to the benefit of neighborhoods.
And the UFP goes even further, including requirements that will protect trees – on both public and private property – during construction with requirements for fencing, tree blankets and protections for tree roots when heavy equipment is being used and when curbs and gutters are being replaced so stabilizing roots are not removed. (See image below.) Ongoing tree health of specimen trees on private property will be monitored by an ISA Certified Arborist with a five year follow up to check on the tree.
Tree roots removed during curb replacement destabilizing tree.
Much of this – and more – is a substantial upgrade to the current tree plan and, if followed, should result in healthy, well shaped trees with the potential to live long lives and provide a number of ecosystem services to the community, including shading and cooling our streets, fixing carbon and slowing stormwater runoff, encouraging absorption and reducing flooding. With the approval of the new UFP, we should see none of the problems illustrated in the three images included in this article, all of which happened in 2024 and 2025.
But we need your voices. In order to achieve the goals set forth in the new UFP, city staff is requesting an additional $700,000 per year to enable full implementation of the UFP, including hiring an Urban Forest Manager. Without someone with both expertise and authority, it will be difficult to implement the plan and convert our treescape from empty tree wells and many underperforming trees to one which will help us counter global warming and improve the quality of life in Alameda in decades to come. This is a lot of money and the City Council needs to know that we all consider it worth the cost.
Please take some time to review the draft Urban Forest plan found here. Please be sure to contact City Council members to let them know that you support a plan that will ensure that healthy trees are selected, maintained and protected from damage so that they can shelter us and improve our lives.