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City of Dallas Receives Urban Forest Award
The City of Dallas was recently honored by the Trinity Blacklands Urban Forestry Council for our efforts to increase the urban tree canopy in Dallas. The ongoing outreach to communities through programs including Branch Out Dallas, Branching Out Dallas, community park plantings and partnership endeavors with area school districts, non-profits, as well as state and federal agencies were recognized as effective tools in improving our community. The Trinity Blacklands Urban Forestry Council promotes urban forestry in our region with members representing both the private and public sectors. For more information about the Trinity Blacklands Urban Forestry Council, please visit their web site. Learn More
Forestry Overview
The City of Dallas has a vast urban forest, including approximately 6,000-acre Great Trinity Forest. City staff maintain existing trees, plants new trees and provide trees to citizens to plant in their yards or along their street.
Per American Forests, over 140 million acres of America's forests are in cities and towns. Urban forestry is defined as protection, planting, and care of trees in an urban and suburban environment.
Urban forestry involves both the planning and management of the urban forest because the right tree, planted in the right place, in the right way help to promote the many benefits trees to people, wildlife, and the climate.
In addition, to the overall improved health and well-being of residents, tree benefits also include improved academic performance, fewer illnesses, and instances of death caused by extreme heat and poor air quality. As we seek remedies for the climate crisis, urban forestry will continue to be a key component to any strategy looking to maximize the benefits that trees provide.
A City-Wide Tree Task Force was formed in early 2021 to include multi-disciplined forestry, wildlife and management staff from the City Manager's Office, Dallas Water Utilities, Park and Recreation, Public Works and Development Services. The task force strengthens the City's efforts in forestry programming and activities as found in the Urban Forest Master Plan, adopted by City Council, June 2021. The Task force continues working with local, state, and federal agencies to better manage our urban forest.
2021 has brought about 2 priorities for the task force: The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) and a tree inventory for all public lands. In April 2021, monitoring was initiated in Dallas County with the support of the Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS). Twenty traps across Dallas County, with eight specifically in the City of Dallas have been placed. The task force continues to work on multiple media outreach programs, locations, and numbers of ash trees on public land.