Urban Tree Canopy Goal

Setting an Urban Tree Canopy Goal for the District of Columbia

Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) – what is it?

Urban tree canopy (UTC) is the layer of leaves, branches, and stems of trees in an urban area that cover the ground when viewed from above.

Why does UTC matter?

Many of the benefits we receive from trees (reduction of the heat island effect, carbon sequestration, reduction of energy use, improvement of water quality, reduction of air pollution) come from the amount of canopy cover they provide – the more canopy cover we have, the more benefits we receive.

These benefits can be so well quantified that in some instances, increases in tree canopy are tied to regulatory and/or programmatic initiatives.

Setting a tree canopy goal for Washington, D.C. is called for in the following:

The District's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) with the Environmental Protection Agency
The District’s Comprehensive Plan
The Chesapeake Bay Program Executive Council’s (includes Mayor of DC) commitment to have 120 communities in the watershed having UTC goals by 2020
The Plan to Improve Air Quality in the Washington, DC-MD-VA Region (State Implementation Plan for 8-Hour Ozone Standard as required by the USEPA under the Clean Air Act; pgs. 6-93 – 6-96; Table 7-1; and, pg 10-35)

What is the District's UTC?

Washington currently has a UTC of 35 percent.. This compares reasonably well with UTC in urban areas east of the Mississippi and on the west coast. To learn about Casey Trees First Annual Tree Report Card, the only comprehensive evaluation of the District's trees and tree canopy, click here.

To view breakdowns of the District's current and historic Urban Tree Canopy, click the below icons::

Does the District have a UTC goal?

Casey Trees has set a goal of 40 percent..

We are advocating for an increase from a current city-wide coverage of 35 percent to coverage of 40 percent over the next 25 years.

This will take us from the low end (UTC in Virginia is approximately 35 percent) to the high end (UTC in Maryland is approximately 40 percent) of UTC for Mid-Atlantic jurisdictions.

What will it take to get to 40 percent UTC?

Keeping all of the UTC we presently have, we will need to gain 2,041 new acres of UTC to reach the goal.

Accounting for an anticipated loss rate of six percent (we will plant 106% of our goal) and using the rate of 100 trees = 1 acre:

216,300 trees will need to be planted over the next 25 years
an average of 8,600 trees per year

What can I do to help?

Participate in one of our planting events
Plant a tree on your property. Soon DC residents will be able to add trees they plant on their own own to Casey Trees' Tree Map. Casey Trees offers $50.00 Tree Rebates and free Treescape Design Workshops to encourage residents to plant trees on private property.
Share information on your planting activities (agencies, universities, institutions, non-profit) with us

Download the entire Urban Tree Goal Statement (PDF).

Download A Report on Washington D.C.’s Existing and Possible Urban Tree Canopy (PDF) - University of Vermont Spatial Analysis Lab.

Experience the new interactive Casey Trees Map.

Determine the Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) and planting opportunities for any property or place in DC and/or locate all the trees planted by Casey Trees since 2003.