2025-022 Increasing Denton 's Urban Tree Canopy Date: Jan. 10,2025 Report No. 2025-022
INFORMAL STAFF REPORT
TO MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
SUBJECT:
Increasing Denton's Tree Canopy
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
On October 9, 2024, Council Member McGee submitted a two-minute pitch to increase Denton's
tree canopy by 5%by 2040 and use the Tree Mitigation Fund for additional staff. On October 15,
2024, the Council provided consensus to require an Informal Staff Report to address feasibility of
the pitch.
DISCUSSION:
The Urban Forest Master Plan adopted in 2020 serves as a guide for managing, enhancing, and
growing Denton's tree canopy. The Master Plan currently includes the primary objective to
achieve a 40% canopy cover by 2040 which requires 16% additional canopy cover from the most
recent tree canopy data collected in 2023. This objective heavily relies on the planting of trees on
private property.
Tree canopy cover is the percentage of land covered by tree canopy(leaves branches and stems of
trees). Depending on the tree species and growing conditions, a newly planted, large canopy tree
will take roughly 20 to 40 years to reach a mature canopy size of 40 feet in diameter. This 40-foot
diameter standard is used to calculate potential tree canopy cover for a large canopy tree in the
Denton Development Code.
The Tree Mitigation Fund currently supports urban forestry and education programs to increase
tree plantings on public and private property, including funding for a staff intern. As of December
20, 2024, this fund has a balance of approximately $2.1 million For Fiscal Year 2024-25; $1.0
million is budgeted for city-initiated tree plantings, tree giveaway programs, and prudent land
acquisition. The tree giveaway programs are focused on public and private property plantings and
aim to increase the City's overall tree canopy by providing approximately 3,000 trees per year,
which is estimated to increase the canopy by 0.14%, once mature. All three tree programs are
managed by Keep Denton Beautiful (KDB) with oversight provided by Denton Parks and
Recreation. Table 1 below lists how many trees will be planted and provided during the 2024-25
fiscal year by all City programs.
Item Program Quantity
2-3 in caliper trees Parks Urban Forestry Tree Planting 350
3-gallon trees Community Tree Giveaway 700
3-gallon trees Community Tree Giveaway 700
3-gallon trees Free Tree Class at the Redbud Festival 150
3-gallon trees Tree Your Block(Neighborhood Giveaways) 200
Redbud seedlings Children's Arbor Day 1800
Tree rebates Tree Rebate Program 150
Date: Jan. 10,2025 Report No. 2025-022
ANNUAL TOTAL 3,350
Table 1 *This does not include trees planted with new property development.
Since 2021, staff have worked to implement the Urban Forest Master Plan by planting and
distributing approximately 6,155 trees in parks, center medians, and KDB giveaway programs.
Planting and outreach were impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Current plans include the
planting and distribution of approximately 50,250 trees over the next 15 years (pending annual
funding availability).If planting continues along the current planned trajectory,overall tree canopy
will potentially increase by 2.62%, using the 40-ft diameter mature tree standard. Increasing the
tree canopy more substantially, to an increase of 5% by 2040 would require the planting of
approximately 164,750 additional trees, without factoring tree loss or gain due to development,
natural decline, or tree plantings by others.
CONCLUSION:
Increasing the tree canopy 5% by 2040 is lower than established goal in the Urban Forest Master
Plan adopted in 2020. Additionally, the request to utilize staff out of the Tree Mitigation Fund is
allowable.
Growing the tree canopy by 5% will require a financial investment of at least $809,000 to $1.7
million annually for 15 years which will exceed the available and projected resources of the Tree
Mitigation Fund. In addition, programs and systems are needed for engaging, encouraging, and
monitoring private property owners' participation. Furthermore, staff are exploring alternative
metrics to assess progress towards the city's tree canopy cover goals.
Staff recommends providing an update the Urban Forest Master Plan progress to the Committee
on the Environment and the Parks and Recreation Board during Q2 of the fiscal year and including
a multiyear forecast as part of the budget process to tie how budgeted efforts are impacting the
increase the canopy.
STAFF CONTACTS:
Haywood Morgan
Urban Forester, Parks and Recreation
Haywood.Morgan(d),cityofdenton.com
Autumn Natalie
Parks Program Area Manager, Parks and Recreation
Autumn.Natalie(a),cityofdenton.com
Ziad Kharrat
Assistant Director, Parks and Recreation
Ziad.Kharrat(a,cityofdenton.c om
REQUESTOR:
Council Member Brandon Chase McGee
PARTICIPATING DEPARTMENTS:
Date: Jan. 10,2025 Report No. 2025-022
Parks and Recreation Department
STAFF TIME TO COMPLETE REPORT:
Parks and Recreation Department 10 hours