City and County of San Francisco Street Tree Census: Resource Analysis of Inventoried Public Trees

摘要

Trees play a vital role in the City of San Francisco, California. They provide numerous benefits both tangible and intangible, to residents, visitors, and neighboring communities. Recognized as a Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation since 2008, San Francisco has demonstrated that public trees are a valued community resource, an important component of the urban infrastructure, and a part of the Citys identity. With an estimated 105,000 public trees in San Francisco, the City contracted with Davey Resource Group (DRG) during 2012 to collect an inventory (tree census) of public trees in four neighborhoods that would represent roughly 25% of the population. This effort forms part of the information gathering desired by the City to guide development of an Urban Forest Plan in 2013. The project collected tree inventory information in the neighborhoods of Bayview, North Beach, Outer Sunset and Western Addition, as well as some additional trees on major commercial corridors. Each tree inventoried on this project received a brief inspection by a Certified Arborist who recorded information including species, size, condition, and current maintenance needs, as well as the geographic location. The result was an overall inventory of 24,858 trees and 2,118 available planting sites. Along with the tree inventory, DRG performed a detailed analysis of the current structure, function, and value of this tree resource using the inventory data in conjunction with i-Tree benefit-cost modeling software.