TITLE
Recommendation to request City Manager to direct the Department of Public Works to conduct a street tree canopy assessment, prioritization and financing study to inform the development of a street tree Iifecycle management plan.
DISCUSSION
BACKGROUND
The City of Long Beach covers approximately fifty-two (52) square miles with a current population of 462,257 and has more than 112,000 parcels and more than 208,000 addresses. The City maintains approximately 92,000 street trees and 815 miles of streets.
Recently, in 2015, a park tree inventory study was conducted by West Coast Arborists, Inc. for the first time on trees in the City's parks. Approximately 7,100 trees or 27% of the 26,000 total park trees inventoried were found to be dead or in poor/critical condition, and 2,000 trees were recommended for removal.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Fire Service as of the beginning of this year, there are 66 million blighted trees throughout California, particularly among pine and fir trees. The USDA estimates that California's street trees comprise 10-20% of the total urban forest (which collectively refers to all publicly and privately owned trees within an urban area), or about one for every four residents, and provide $1 billion in annual environmental and social benefits. Yet, street tree density has declined by 30% since 1988 and overreliance on certain species and genera pose a threat of catastrophic loss from various stressors.
In drought-ravaged regions, especially with the state mandate for localities to reduce water use by up to 25%, urban trees go without critical watering and become more susceptible to pests ultimately causing disease or death. This is a tremendous public safety risk given downed trees and large branches that can create substantial property damage and have the ability to harm lives.
DISCUSSION
The management of urban forests typically involves a variety of activities such as inventorying tree populati...
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