{"id":744422,"date":"2025-04-22T07:23:44","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T14:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=744422"},"modified":"2025-06-02T10:35:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T17:35:19","slug":"valuing-trees-urban-forest-assets","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/valuing-trees-urban-forest-assets","title":{"rendered":"Geospatial Technology Helps City Planners Protect and Expand Urban Forests"},"author":671,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[301562,491852,491862,278432],"industry":[],"esri-blog-category":[491252,478452],"esri_blog_department":[478202],"class_list":["post-744422","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-ecosystem-services","tag-urban-forestry","tag-urban-sprawl","tag-urbanization","esri-blog-category-flourishing-cities","esri-blog-category-smart-planning","esri_blog_department-infrastructure"],"acf":{"video_source":"","video_start":"","video_stop":"","short_description":"Urban forestry is becoming critical for managing and protecting trees and natural areas as cities grow and expand.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"Modern urban forestry focuses on protecting and expanding tree canopies across the world that make cities not only more beautiful but healthy and resilient.\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Key Takeaways<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>City planners are using GIS technology to maintain a balance between forests and developed land.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Through extensive use of maps and data science, urban foresters are finding the most suitable places to restore and expand urban forests.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Urban foresters document where tree canopies are shrinking due to construction, and work to add new trees and natural areas that communities need to thrive.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To understand why urban forestry has evolved from aesthetic landscaping into a science-driven cornerstone of city planning, you may need to change how you think about trees.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today\u2019s urban foresters are revolutionizing how we value trees, using advanced remote-sensing technology, digital mapping, and data science to quantify their benefits and advocate for preservation and expansion.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beyond their beauty, urban trees deliver measurable ecosystem services: They sequester carbon, cool city temperatures, reduce energy use, filter air pollution, mitigate flooding through stormwater absorption, and support biodiversity. As these benefits are increasingly <a href=\"https:\/\/research.fs.usda.gov\/treesearch\/64415#:~:text=Trees%20provide%20critical%20contributions%20to,%2C%20fires%2C%20pests%20and%20pathogens.\">translated into dollar values<\/a>, trees are also being recognized for their fundamental role in connecting humans with nature\u2014a relationship with proven <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.org\/en-us\/magazine\/magazine-articles\/tree-planting-human-health-louisville\/\">health benefits<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deepening our appreciation for trees is necessary as two forces converge: the growth of cities and the intensification of weather patterns. Together, they threaten <a href=\"https:\/\/research.fs.usda.gov\/treesearch\/55818#:~:text=Overall%2C%20there%20are%20an%20estimated%205.5%20billion,44%20million%20tons%20of%20dry%2Dweight%20leaf%20biomass.\">billons of trees<\/a> worldwide.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As communities expand, urban forests now sit closer to population centers, maximizing their environmental and economic benefits. Urban foresters emphasize that these trees must be strategically preserved and managed to serve growing populations.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using detailed imagery and mapping, these experts demonstrate how, without protective policies and thoughtful planning, tree canopies can diminish.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Urban forestry has evolved to secure trees\u2019 place in increasingly dense cities where they\u2019re most vital. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fs.usda.gov\/nrs\/pubs\/jrnl\/2018\/nrs_2018_Nowak_003.pdf\">According to the US Forest Service<\/a>, urban forests have an economic impact in the billions of dollars: $5.4 billion in air pollution removal, $5.4 billion in reduced energy costs, and $2.7 billion in avoided emissions. Beyond economics, trees safeguard environmental health for many species, humans included.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We know this because modern tree stewards\u2014arborists, geographers, and data analysts\u2014analyze extensive data to illuminate trees\u2019 essential role in vital communities.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Across a growing number of communities, elevating trees from mere amenities to essential assets marks the first step in prioritizing urban forestry. These living infrastructure elements now receive the same critical attention as other vital investments, supported by sophisticated research and technology systems that organize and guide preservation efforts.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe're engaged in asset management,\u201d said Earl Eutsler, associate director of the Urban Forestry Division for the District Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. \u201cWe invest in trees, and they become more valuable over time as they grow. And for that to happen, you have to have space where trees can exist near and amongst people.\u201d<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Center","content":"<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Urban Sprawl\u2019s Global Footprint <\/strong><\/h2>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Weather patterns, satellite images, heat maps, and government records have documented explosive growth of urban areas in the US and globally. Maps and imagery show how urban expansion is changing the face of the planet.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About <a href=\"https:\/\/farmland.org\/new-report-smarter-land-use-planning-is-urgently-needed-to-safeguard-the-land-that-grows-our-food\/\">2,000 acres of farmland and ranchland were being developed<\/a> as urban space on any given day between 2001 and 2016, according to American Farmland Trust.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Researchers estimate that more 18 million acres of farmland and ranchland could be developed or paved between 2016 and 2040. That amount of land is about equal in size to the state of South Carolina.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Globally, expansion of cities could claim 106\u2013377 million acres of land by 2030 if growth proceeds unchecked, according to American Farmland Trust.<\/p>","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Technology for Futureproof Investing<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/css.umich.edu\/publications\/factsheets\/built-environment\/us-cities-factsheet\">Urban land expanded by 14 percent<\/a> in the US between 2000 and 2020, according to a report by the University of Michigan\u2019s Center for Sustainable Systems. Meanwhile, tree cover in the United States is declining at a rate of about 175,000 acres per year. That amounts to the loss of about 36 million trees per year at a conservative cost of $96 million per year.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Washington DC, known locally as the City of Trees, data science with geographic information system (GIS) technology provides a long-standing approach for <a href=\"https:\/\/forestactionplan.dc.gov\/\">monitoring, managing, protecting, and expanding forests<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Arbor Day Foundation equips Tree City USA partners such as the District of Columbia with GIS mapping and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.naturequant.com\/\">NatureQuant<\/a> data to help in identifying areas where trees can do the most good. This helps communities tell the full story of the value of trees.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After years of refining its tree management processes, the city now maintains detailed maps of all 200,000 trees in public planting beds, primarily along city streets. New construction projects must incorporate public planting areas to satisfy design and engineering standards.<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery_images":[744472,744542,744452,744532]},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Annually, city staff inspect roughly 63,000 trees while arborists plant about 8,000 new ones on public lands\u2014in parks; at schools; and especially along city streets, considered the most challenging place to grow trees.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIf we're not thoughtful about each of the decisions we're making, we could be making 8,000 mistakes a year,\u201d Eutsler said. \u201cThat's why it was important for us to create a decision-support tool that our staff could refer to as they're making the individual decisions that spool up into that annual investment in tree planting.\u00a0 We invest several million dollars a year and try to make it the most future-proof, future-ready investment.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Future-proofing focuses on resilience or adaptation to changing weather patterns, such as extended heat waves. Investing in shade trees can make the hottest neighborhoods more livable, improve public health, and reduce heat-related deaths and energy use.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GIS maps provide a visual, street-by-street inventory for comparing year-over-year canopy growth and decline in the city\u2019s eight wards. Those maps show the city\u2019s required planting areas, located between the roads and the sidewalks, as well as details about the type and age of the trees growing within them.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A decade of GIS mapping, analysis, and predictive modeling now directs Washington, DC\u2019s forest management strategy, pinpointing optimal planting locations and identifying the most suitable tree species for each environment.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Those historical records help identify shade-providing species with high tolerance for both current and future challenges\u2014including intensifying cycles of drought and flooding and greater exposure to pests and disease.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt's too much information for any one person to know at the citywide level or even in the zone that they are individually responsible for,\u201d Eutsler said. \u201cWe want to have meaningful granularity as well as scale that is relevant for making decisions that don't exacerbate either a diversity issue or a climate adaptation and mitigation challenge. And so we've synthesized all these data sources and then brought in that spatial element to give people a sense of what is best to plant where.\u201d<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery_images":[744552,744502,744512,744492]},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>A Strong Economy Pushes Cities to Expand<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Wake County\u2014the largest county in North Carolina by population\u2014the economy is booming. The gross domestic product jumped nearly 40 percent from $87 million in 2020 to nearly $120 million in 2023.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That prosperity is fueling population growth\u2014an increase of more than 25 percent from 2010 to 2020, to 1.15 million people. That\u2019s nearly three and a half times the national growth rate.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The tradeoff is that Wake County\u2019s green, rural character is receding. County officials often hear complaints expressing lament over the loss of trees and farmland.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A 2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/lg\/industry\/government\/stories\/sustainable-development-with-tree-canopy-assessment-wake-county-north-carolina?appId=aemshell\">GIS land-cover analysis,<\/a> conducted with the environmental consulting firm Davey Resource Group, Inc., established a baseline for ongoing monitoring of Wake County\u2019s urban forests, documenting tree species, locations, and health metrics throughout the landscape.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The study also defined how land in the county was used. Trees occupied more than half of the county\u2019s land, and the rest was allocated to crops and other vegetation, buildings, bare soil, and bodies of water.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The land-cover analysis using remote sensing data from 2010 and 2020, showed that Wake County had lost 11,122 acres of its tree canopy\u2014or 3.6 percent\u2014over the previous 10 years. One-fourth of the county\u2019s 597 US census blocks lost more than 5 percent of their tree canopy. That means trees in some locations are more vulnerable than in others.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe technology is allowing us to gauge the change that's happening between the built and the natural areas,\u201d said Bill Shroyer, senior GIS analyst for Wake County\u2019s Long-Range Planning Department. \u201cWe're trying to work within that interplay of development and urbanization to bring back some of the natural elements. It's brought to the forefront an emphasis on policy to reestablish tree canopy.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">County officials use <a href=\"https:\/\/storymaps.arcgis.com\/stories\/054d05af3bda497d9abfe13d5d8d8d74\">GIS maps and spatial analysis<\/a> to uncover opportunities and risks. Based on those insights, they establish and rank priorities to ensure that communities continue to make room for nature.<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":744572,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GIS analysis shows that over their life span, Wake County\u2019s trees have already removed and stored more than 10.2 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and absorbed an estimated 8.1 billion gallons of stormwater.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s especially important in the city of Raleigh, where <a href=\"https:\/\/climatecheck.com\/northcarolina\/raleigh\">8 percent of homes are prone to flooding<\/a>. Excessive stormwater runoff can damage trees in low-lying areas as well as carry debris and other pollutants into creeks, streams, and other water sources.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">County analysts calculated that trees have prevented more than $3.2 billion in damage to human health, property, and the environment. Now the county is working to ensure that trees are healthy and abundant enough to continue providing these benefits to the community.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Planners mapped more than 82,000 acres that are suitable for planting to replace trees lost to development, or to add trees in an effort to prevent soil erosion and flooding.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tree planting will also help cool the county\u2019s hottest neighborhoods\u2014often located in communities with higher rates of poverty and health disparities. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/austins-map-of-tree-equity\/\">Planting more trees to help cool the hottest neighborhoods<\/a> has become a strategy for mitigating heat waves that linger in many US cities.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Wake County, analysts also identify land that is unsuitable for planting trees. Those areas often are public rights-of-way and easements.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Within the land available for planting, analysts can sharpen their focus to study and address threats that could hinder the health of established or young trees.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having data for each census block allows planners to investigate and craft solutions specific to each location. That new level of precision improves the health of trees and allows staff to use county resources more effectively.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt gives us an opportunity to be so granular that we can put groups on the ground and find out what is affecting change,\u201d Shroyer said. \u201cIt's more than just knowing where the majority of the trees have disappeared. It's actually knowing why.\u201d<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn more about how\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/forestry\/overview\/\">foresters use GIS for sustainable forest management<\/a>.<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Center","content":"<h2 class=\"ai-optimize-6\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Getting Started: Uncovering the Hidden Value of Trees <\/strong><\/h2>\r\n<p class=\"ai-optimize-7\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As cities expand to accommodate growing populations, planners and policymakers also work to ensure nature is abundant enough to provide essential services for communities. Those services make cities of the future livable and resilient\u2014and make the case for trees.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"ai-optimize-8\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Four essential steps are required to evaluate, monitor, and protect existing urban forests and maintain a balance as new construction expands.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li class=\"ai-optimize-9\">Identify and map existing land uses across the territory. Satellite images and remote-sensing technologies offer precision and detail of existing conditions and become a foundation for GIS maps.<\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"ai-optimize-10\">Evaluate and document tree species, health, and location by using maps. The first analysis becomes a baseline for detecting change in the future.<\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"ai-optimize-11\">Measure the environmental and socioeconomic impact of tree canopy. For example, how much carbon dioxide are trees removing from the atmosphere? Are more trees needed to help cool the hottest neighborhoods or to absorb stormwater in areas prone to flooding?<\/li>\r\n \t<li class=\"ai-optimize-12\">Identify the most suitable locations for planting more trees, based on local priorities.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","snippet":""}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Technology Helps City Planners Protect and Expand Urban Forests<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Urban forestry is becoming critical for managing and protecting trees and natural areas as cities grow and expand.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/valuing-trees-urban-forest-assets\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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