Queen City Canopy: Growing Charlotte’s Urban Forest Through Community Engagement
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Known formally as the “Queen City”—but locally as the “city of trees”—the City of Charlotte has developed internal partnerships to foster a vibrant urban forest, including new infrastructure design guidelines and a strong partnership between city arborists and engineers. The nonprofit group, TreesCharlotte, is a new civic/private collaborative that supports the city council’s "50x50" goal of addressing tree loss in urban areas. Successful projects are developed through the work of dedicated volunteers, along with private funds raised to plant trees and educate the community.
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Queen City Canopy: Growing Charlotte’s Urban Forest Through Community Engagement
- 1. Queen City Canopy: Growing Charlotte's Urban Forest Through Community Engagement Part I: A City in a Forest Donald McSween, City Arborist November 5, 2014
- 2. The Legacy Starts • Dilworth – John Nolen • Myers Park – Olmsted Brothers • Eastover – Earl Sumner Draper
- 3. Trees are part of the Legacy
- 4. Charlotte Tree Advisory Commission • Arbor Day • Advice to City Manager and City Council • Appeals • Tree Ordinance
- 5. Land Development – Urban Forestry • Tree Ordinance Private Property • Requires tree preservation and planting • Commercial sites • Multi-Family sites • Single Family sub-divisions
- 6. Engineering and Property Management Engineering Services Construction Storm Water Services Landscape Design/Maintenance CATS Landscape Management Real Estate Planning Commission CATS Dept. of Transportation City Attorney’s Office
- 7. Engineering and Property Management Landscape Management • Tree Management • Maintenance of Right of Ways • Landscape Maintenance • CATS Maintenance & Development • Capital Improvement Design • Cemeteries
- 8. Street Tree Maintenance In-House Crews • Work Order Pruning • In-House Crews – 5 crews – 14 people • 3 Bucket Trucks • 2 Conventional Trucks • 16-1800 Work Requests Annually • 10 week delays in spring and summer
- 9. Street Tree Maintenance In-House Crews • Pruning dead limbs out of street trees • Clearing street lights, traffic signals, traffic signs • Clearing sight distance hazards • Removals • Emergency On-Call
- 10. Street Tree Maintenance Private Contractors • Systematic Pruning street by street • Large Tree Removals
- 11. Street Tree Maintenance • Removal of 300+ large Street trees annually
- 12. Street Tree Planting • Replacement Planting of street trees • 1100 street trees planted annually by Tree Management • Purchased from Private Nurseries • Planted by Private Landscape Contractors
- 13. Street Tree Protection Private Development • Private Development Projects • Review plans • Site visits • Urban Design team meetings • Documentation • Construction Inspections • Single Family and Duplex are not reviewed due to staffing
- 14. Street Tree Inventory • 163,000 street trees inventoried (91%) • 180,000 estimated street trees
- 15. Species Mix • Highest single species is Crape Myrtle • Second highest is Willow Oak • Third highest is Red Maple • Largest majority are diversified species • 234 species
- 16. Condition of Street Trees Fall Cankerworm • Native moth • Wingless female • Defoliates trees in the early spring • Repeated defoliation leads to high mortality
- 17. Fall Cankerworm • 90 females/trap is high infestation • 3,000 females in some traps in 2014 • Current counts in the hundreds
- 18. Changing Numbers
- 19. Control Measures • Trapping or Banding • Ground sprays by private arborists • Aerial Sprays – Aerial spray in 2008 of 65,000 acres cost $1.5M – Used Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis)
- 20. Annual Losses • Root Rot • Heart Rot • Structural Weakness • Lightning • Mankind
- 21. Tree Management Budget Summary • Total $ 3,300,000 • 70% of work to private industry • $ 4.28 per capita • $18.34 per Street Tree
- 22. Queen City Canopy: Growing Charlotte's Urban Forest Through Community Engagement Part II: An Arborist and Engineer Partnership David Meachum, P.E. MBA Engineering Services Division Manager November 5, 2014
- 23. An Arborist and Engineer Partnership Limited Partnership
- 24. An Arborist and Engineer Partnership Poor Tree Preservation & Protection Practices
- 25. An Arborist and Engineer Partnership Disappointing Tree- Planting Practices
- 26. An Arborist and Engineer Partnership 3 Keys of Charlotte’s Successful Partnership • Educate Each Other • Build Strong Relationships • Hold a “Tree Seat” At The Project Design Table
- 27. An Arborist and Engineer Partnership Educate Each Other About Tree Assessment
- 28. An Arborist and Engineer Partnership Educate Each Other About Tree Preservation
- 29. An Arborist and Engineer Partnership Educate Each Other About Utility Impacts
- 30. An Arborist and Engineer Partnership Educate Each Other About Tree Planting Practices
- 31. An Arborist and Engineer Partnership We build and maintain strong relationships Landscape design in-house
- 32. An Arborist and Engineer Partnership We build and maintain strong relationships Landscape procurement in-house
- 33. An Arborist and Engineer Partnership We build and maintain strong relationships Landscape installation inspection in-house
- 34. An Arborist and Engineer Partnership We hold a “Tree Seat” at the project design table Project Team Member Core Team Members: (generally need to attend all project team meetings) Project Manager: Leslie Bing Program Manager: Tim Greene Client: CDOT (James Shapard) CDOT (Tom Sorrentino) SWS (Susan Tolan) CMU (Bill Deal) Landscape Management (Chris Trotter) Planning (Jaya Dhindaw) Consultant: Michael Baker, Inc. (Bill Hood, Jason Breda)
- 35. An Arborist and Engineer Partnership We hold a “Tree Seat” at the project design table Project Service Provider Johnson And Wales Way/4th St/Trade St Project Goals: • Improve pedestrian safety with special attention to localized pedestrian environments and needs • Improve/increase multi-modal (bike/ped) performance and connectivity • Identify opportunities for landscaping • Identify opportunities for urban spaces
- 36. An Arborist and Engineer Partnership We hold a “Tree Seat” at the project design table Sign-off Authority On Project Construction Plans
- 37. An Arborist and Engineer Partnership We hold a “Tree Seat” at the project design table • Digital location of documents – Plant Palette • CharMeck.org/Landscape Management/Recommended Plants for Roadway Landscapes – Tree Standards • CharMeck.org/Engineering & Property Management/Permitting and Plan Review/Standards Manual (CLDSM)/Section 4000 Tree Standards – Green Zone, Urban Street Design Guidelines • CharMeck.org/Transportation/Plans and Programs/Urban Street Design Guidelines
- 38. An Arborist and Engineer Partnership • David Meachum, P.E., MBA Engineering Services Division Manager – 704-336-4122 – dmeachum@charlottenc.gov
- 39. Queen City Canopy: Growing Charlotte's Urban Forest Through Community Engagement Part III: TreesCharlotte Dave Cable, Executive Director November 5, 2014
- 40. Queen City Canopy: Part III Community Engagement Is Our Heart & Soul Dave Cable, Executive Director
- 41. Elements of a strong program Charlotte’s quality urban forest Committed leadership Comprehensive street tree program Effective tree ordinance Tree culture embedded across depts. 41
- 42. Denver, CO Chicago, IL Milwaukee, WI Seattle, WA St. Louis, MO Dallas, TX Charlotte, NC Nashville, TN MeckCounty, NC 47% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Charlotte’s Goal Is 50% Tree Canopy by Year 2050 Sources (1) Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County, April 2010. (2) Urban Ecosystem Analysis Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte, NC, April 2010. (3) US Census Quick Facts
- 43. Widening beyond the public realm Holistic view of the urban forest Broad community engagement Appreciation of trees as a community value Volunteerism Tree care & preservation Tap private capital 43
- 49. TreeMasters
- 57. Performance Summary 57 4,065 Trees Planted 7,111 10,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 FY13 FY14 FY15 Est 1,156 Volunteers 2,074 3,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 FY13 FY14 FY15 Est 12,000 tree in 2+ years Stewardship programs Raised $1,400,000 Action Summits Honorary tree program Education programs
- 58. 58 Critical Success Factors The A-Team – Carolinas HealthCare System
- 59. #1 - Clear Community Goal Denver, CO Chicago, IL Milwaukee, WI Seattle, WA St. Louis, MO Dallas, TX Charlotte, NC Nashville, TN MeckCounty, NC 47% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Charlotte’s Goal Is 50% Tree Canopy by Year 2050 Sources (1) Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County, April 2010. (2) Urban Ecosystem Analysis Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte, NC, April 2010. (3) US Census Quick Facts
- 60. #2 - Collaborative DNA • Aerial canopy analysis – April 2010 • Increased tree funding – June 2010 • Council adopts 50% by 2050 – June 2011 • Study commissioned – November 2011 • Unanimous Council endorsement – July 2012 City of Charlotte • Canopy Committee convenes – June 2010 • Workgroup drafts plan – Fall 2010 • TreesCharlotte plan ratified – February 2010 • Study commissioned – November 2011 • Branding committee creates logo – April 2012 • Knight Foundation leadership gift – July 2012 Knight Foundation Canopy Committee TreesCharlotte collaborative is born at May 2012 Action Summit I. Foundation For The Carolinas endorses plan. City partnership & commitment formed for TreesCharlotte
- 61. 61
- 62. 62 #3 - Effective Core Collaborative Healthy & expansive urban forest for generations City of Charlotte Technical expertise & support TreesCharlotte Private capital for trees; education & community engagement Community Partners Orgs, volunteers, neighborhood groups
- 63. 63 #4 - Board Strength Bank of America, COO Carolinas HealthCare Systems, CEO Charlotte Observer, Former Publisher Charlotte Pipe & Foundry, CEO City Manager, Charlotte Lincoln Harris, CEO Lowes Corporation, Director Community Relations National Gypsum, CEO Piedmont Natural Gas, CEO Wells Fargo, Head of Wealth & Brokerage
- 64. #5 – Commitment to Guiding Principles 64 FUN!!! Continuous improvement Bias toward action Service culture Strengthening community Tree – people connections Non-adversarial, positive messaging And…..
- 65. #5 – Guiding Principles, cont’d 65 Guided by science Professional greenprints Always right tree, right place Diversification of canopy Tight & high tree specifications Planting and tree care protocols Tree care education
- 66. #6 – Partnerships, starting with growers 66
- 67. 67 #6 – Partnerships, Community City of Charlotte Largest hospital Community Foundation District Rotary & Clubs Local land trust Housing Authority School System North Carolina Nursery & Landscape Assoc. And many others….
- 68. #7 – Meeting neighborhoods where they are NeighborWoods TreeDays NeighborWoods TreeStores Higher Planting Capacity Lower Planting Capacity 68
- 69. 69 Comprehensive Urban Forestry Platform Arborist and Engineer Partnerships Effective Street Tree Program Regulatory Functions Community engagement & private capital
- 70. 70 Thank you! Dave Cable 704-577-2004 dave@treescharlotte.org
Editor's Notes
- I’m Dave Cable and I have the honor of serving as Executive Director of TC. If you take anything away from this presentation I hope its that community engagement truly is core to TC – it permeates everything we do and was core to our origins. I am starting to think of TC as a mega community engagement project disguised as a tree initiative!
- As you heard from Don and David, we have some extraordinary arbor assets and programs here in Charlotte….- our canopy, arguably one of the best in the US, our committed city elected and staff leadership, solid street tree program and a tree culture that permeates city gov – these assets were developed over decades and describe where we 4 or 5 years ago – before the tree world changed in Charlotte….
- In 2011 a canopy analysis revealed 3 key discoveries – great canopy, unevenly spread, profound tree loss. Under Gina’s leadership this study inspired the council’s adoption of the pivotal 50% coverage goal by 2050. The goal had 2 profound impacts: 1. aligned the city’s efforts and helped galvanized the community; and 2. highlighted the need for a much wider scope of services.
- With less than 8% of the canopy in the public ROW and the greatest potential for canopy expansion in residential subdivisions, it was clear that the city could not meet the goal on its own - we were missing a holistic view of the urban forest and the potential for community engagement via volunteerism and tree care education. We were also missing the opportunity to tap private capital for our urban forest. These are key components of comprehensive urban forestry management
- And TreesCharlotte was born to seize opportunities for broad community engagement and expanding to the private realm. TreesCharlotte is a collaborative with many community partners, and is in close partnership with the City of Charlotte. Our goal is to plant up to 15,000 trees per year to expand and diversify the canopy, and to educate residents on the value of the canopy and ways to preserve and care for trees. TC is high energy, fun, action oriented, and community focused.
- Let’s take a brief tour of one of projects – West Charlotte HS. Here we work closely with the 9th grade science teachers to conduct i-tree orientation in the class room at West Charlotte HS. Through i-tree design students place trees on their school campus to quantify their impacts. There is no more efficient way to highlight the benefits of trees to the urban environment.
- For each campus projects, greenprints are a critical to right tree right place, and ensure that the trees are consistent with programing, security, and long term plans for the campus. In this case there were 80 exterior security cameras to consider. The plans are driven by science and created by the City’s blue chip design and arborist staff and undergo heavy review by many stakeholders.
- Event Day. In this case, about 150 of the 300 volunteers were students. The volunteers planted all 425 of the 7-gallon containerized trees.
- The mayor offers welcoming remarks and before kick off,
- And volunteers are directed to TreeMasters, our key event leaders who keep the volunteers happy and safe, and make sure trees are planted properly. Each TreeMaster completes an orientation with TreesCharlotte on planting, TC messaging, volunteer management, and safety.
- Strong participation
- Productivity
- And fun!!
- Expand the model to neighborhoods….
- With a stewardship program requiring residents to commit their best efforts to plant and care of the trees they receive – we also ask them to name the tree in honor of a family member…
- And add in park projects
- And an educational program in partnership with NC Wildlife Federation, and that is what TreesCharlotte is all about…..
- We are young and while our trends are good, we have a great deal to learn. I am proud of our successes – now more than 12,000 trees and 3,500 volunteers to date. This year we will stretch for 10,000 trees, we have raised $1.4 million, established the beginnings of a stewardship program, and are expanding educational programs. Each year we host an action summit for stakeholders This is all a good start, and now we are shifting from 1st gear to 2nd gear to tackle our sustainability.
- I suspect that nearly all of your are familiar with similar programs in your area, and so rather than review the mechanics of TC I thought I would share with you the 7 critical factors I believe help explain our successes so far…
- Critical Factor - #1 – a clear, science-based community goal of 50% canopy by 2050 – that has rallied the community and aligns TreesCharlotte’s goals with public policy. This ensures effective partnership with the city and helps tremendously with private funding. REVIEW BOLD YET REALISTIC 50/50 GOAL: What makes is bold? - 1% of tree canopy is approximately 100,000 trees; we are one of the fastest growing metros in the country, much of our canopy is geriatric.
- Critical Success Factor #2 – collaboration is in our DNA. From the beginning TreesCharlotte has embraced collaboration across public, private, for profit and non-profit agencies. This project was never about a soviet style plan passed down by TreesCharlotte. The TC-concept was born 3 years ago with the merger of two initiatives – City of Charlotte and KF. This was a key merging of public focus by the city with private focus by KF. For when the City Council voted for the 50 x 50 goal, there was little discussion about the city’s role, the capital requirements, and, with only 7 or 8% of the canopy in the ROW, the importance of the private lands in meeting the goal.
- The concept of TC was then vetted in the public realm at the first Canopy Action Summit in 2012. With endorsement from over 50 stakeholder groups and endorsement from the KF committee and the city council, TreesCharlotte was born. The collaborative spirit of TC has been essential to our success and our efficiency.
- Success Factor #3 – tight partnerships with the City and community partners. I like to think of TreesCharlotte as a three legged stool – the city provides technical support, TC raises private capital and some structure to community engagement, and the community provides the horsepower to plant and care for trees. All of these legs are core – emphasize the city’s support.
- Success Factor #4 – strong board – we are blessed with one of the best boards in the city – great representation across the city – banks, RE development, media, health care, utilities, and government. The board members or their companies have donated over $325,000 to TC. But the importance of the board is not only about fundraising – the board works TreesCharlotte into the fabric of the community in profound ways. (Example)
- Critical Success Factor #5 – commitment to guiding principles
- Critical Success Factor #5 – science basis for program – strong support from the City’s arborists
- Success Factor #6 – Community partnerships, none more important than the partnerships with our growers. We work with 4 growers, supporting NC economy, and selected them because they were willing to take an early risk with us, they are geographically disbursed for hurricane risk, they work with us (like a 6 am Saturday delivery, and stacking the loads for our project zones), and they are among the very best growers, growing to a high and tight spec. They tag our trees with the TC logo. And our partnership allows them to grow the trees they grow best…..
- And more broadly, critical to our successes are community partnerships - starting with the city – LM, Tree Commission, Storm water, CDOT, Planning, N&BS, Sustainability, Urban Forestry. Largest hospital (largest donor) making a strong public health connection, FFTC (key with over $1 B under management), rotary clubs connection to business, and over 30 other important partnerships including the NC Nursery and Landscape Association.
- Success Factor #7 - Creatively meeting the market – serving neighborhoods while driving toward scale – and resisting the temptation to only offer general tree giveaways because of the missed opportunity for building stronger neighborhoods.
- An engaged community is critical to any successful urban forestry program. A long term robust urban forest necessitates that we are successful in conveying that the forest, critical to the future of our cities, is a community resource in which we all must be invested and in compelling people to action to plant and preserve our canopies.