Second Annual Tree Report Card - 2009
About
The Tree Report Card is the only independent evaluation of the District’s tree canopy, and the only independent tree assessment of a city in the United States. It is issued annually in the spring based on data from the previous year, and is based upon the following metrics:
- Tree Coverage - amount of tree cover.
- Tree Health - condition of the trees.
- Tree Planting - number of trees planted.
- Tree Awareness - level of participation in, and knowledge of, tree-related issues.
- Tree Protection - regulatory and voluntary measures to protect trees.
The Tree Report Card aims to raise the level of awareness among policy makers, elected leaders and the public about the state of the District’s trees and what is being done to preserve, protect and manage this precious resource. We hope this Tree Report Card will spur further interest, engagement, and coordination of public and private efforts to restore, enhance and protect the tree canopy in the Nation’s Capital.
In endeavoring to create the Tree Report Card we used the best data available. However, this exercise revealed that the optimal national and local data for this effort were not readily available. Our hope is that the Tree Report Card will encourage our partners to share information we do not possess to help us construct a more complete picture of the District’s trees.
Changes in the Tree Report Card in 2010
When the Tree Report Card for 2008 activity was being developed, the City had not yet adopted an Urban Tree Canopy Goal for the District. However, shortly before the launch of the Tree Report Card, Mayor Adrian Fenty announced the ambitious but attainable 40% by 2035 Urban Tree Canopy Goal for Washington.
Because there was no goal in place at the time the initial Tree Report Card was created, those grades were based largely on a scale relative to how other cities were doing with regards to the same activities (grading on a curve).
Now that we have an endorsed Urban Tree Canopy Goal in place, grades will be established according to how the District’s tree canopy is doing relative to the goal or relative to a standard grading scale for items not specific to the goal.
Tree Metrics
Tree Report Card
Urban Tree Canopy Goal
