Urban Tree Canopy – Will the Public Accept Stewardship of Trees?
Kate Lunceford | Published on 10/2/2025
Megan Dunn was recently featured in the Tree Link DNR Newsletter in a “Faces of Urban Forestry” spotlight. She championed our efforts to put the new Urban Tree Canopy Policies in the books. A cross-departmental implementation committee has been convened and is currently working on next steps to implement the policies outlined in the subelement. Please consider working with Kristin Kelly at Futurewise (edpas2016@gmail.com) to help guide our county.
How will we protect the current 38% canopy coverage? What does “no net loss” mean? No net loss in 20 years by planting all new trees? Will they define heritage trees of a certain size, age, and ecological benefit and protect them on public and private property? Will they propose building designs that can be flexible to accommodate housing needs and heritage trees? Will they make sure a fee-in-lieu does not allow builders to pay into tree banks which have poor success rates because of high mortality?
Learn more about this project by exploring: