Urban Forestry Management Program

BACKGROUND

The City of Tarpon Springs has been awarded several grants to create, monitor, and fully implement a Tarpon Springs Urban Forestry Program and street tree inventory.

An Urban Forestry Master Plan is an action plan that provides the City detailed information, recommendations and resources needed to effectively and proactively manage public trees.

City of Tarpon Springs Municipal Arborist, Shannon Brewer, will oversee the successful completion and implementation of the program!

SCOPE OF WORK

The Tarpon Springs Urban Forestry Program will be created within three years with each year having a specific scope of work.

• YEAR 1: Hazardous and Street Tree Inventory - The inventory will document and collect data on trees on public lands for the purpose of city tree asset management.
  • Phase I complete - Read the final report located in the documents tab of this page.
  • Phase II will begin Summer 2024
• YEAR 2: Creation of an Urban Forestry Master Plan - The plan will contain a description of the community, a vision for the urban forest, a strategic plan, an implementation and a monitoring plan, and a prioritization criteria work plan for 5, 10, and 20 year cycles.
• YEAR 3: Replanting the Urban Forest - This phase will consist of planting street trees in areas with little to no canopy coverage to provide future shade, wildlife, and returning a sense of community back to neighborhoods.

BOC APPROVES LIMB UP FOR SAFETY PROJECT

The City of Tarpon Springs recognizes the need to maintain tree canopy while providing valuable safety resources to its citizens. Many neighborhoods have tree limbs growing into the roadway so low that emergency response vehicles cannot pass safely. Limb Up for Safety Project goal is to raise the tree canopy to 16 feet above the road and 10 feet above the sidewalk. This project will allow for dedicated efforts to improve safety concerns and accessibility during time of natural disasters.

The focus area of this project is Union Academy and Census Tract 274.04 areas (See map below or attached in documents). These areas have important physical and cultural tree canopies. Due to the rising cost of tree care, many of these historic trees are being removed instead of pruned. The project's tree inventory component will help identify those trees for further preservation. The data collected will be added to the existing street tree inventory.

This project has been funded as part of the Urban and Community Forestry Grant 2023 from U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service to the Arbor Day Foundation. Through funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, the Forest Service is making historic investments in boosting the nation’s tree cover in urban, suburban and rural communities nationwide. The agency has selected 385 grant proposals from entities that are working to increase equitable access to trees and green spaces, and the many benefits they provide. 100% of benefits will flow to disadvantaged communities, and funded proposals are located in all 50 states, two U.S. territories, three U.S. affiliated Pacific islands, and in several tribal communities. For more information on this projects funding and other projects https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/urban-forests/ucf/2023-grant-funding

STATE OF FLORIDA CANOPY ASSESSMENT RESULTS

Florida Forest Service conducted a statewide urban tree canopy analysis for every incorporated community in the state! This assessment is freely available to anyone and can be found at Florida Forest Service (pg-cloud.com). From this link, just select a community to view the canopy analysis, divided into Census Block Groups. From there, there’s a myriad of tools. With this analysis, a written report was created that shows the results of this analysis to help make the information easier to understand. Read the report located in the Documents section.

Key Findings:

• Urban tree canopy covered 1,540,257 acres representing an average coverage of 36%.
• Over the entire assessment period, a roughly equal number of municipalities experienced canopy gains as those that experienced losses. 243 communities had net positive canopy changes, compared to 245 communities with net negative changes.
• Severe storms, particularly Hurricane Michael, which made landfall in the West Panhandle in 2018, were significant contributors to canopy loss.
• Florida's existing canopy provides over $456 million annually in avoided infrastructure costs and ecosystem benefits.

Interactive app to see more details: https://www.pg-cloud.com/FloridaCanopy/

PHASE I FINAL REPORT

This report entails the first biophysical analysis and ecological assessment of the City of Tarpon Springs' urban forest.

Key Findings:

• 4,575 street trees are located in rights-of-way within the Community Redevelopment Area, Greektown HIstoric, and Local Historic areas.
• 80% of the trees in the project area are native to Florida
• Total ground cover composition for City of Tarpon Springs is 35.55% Tree Canopy, 31.43% Impervious (roads, buildings, sidewalks, and pools), 26.36% Grass / Herbaceous, 4.19% Water (bayou, lake, gulf), 2.47% Bare Ground
• The Benefit Carbon Removed Annually (Estimate): 4.51 kilotons of carbon sequestered annually in trees, valued at $558,186; Carbon stored in trees 73.03 kilotons valued at $9,473,848.
• Estimated cost to replace the urban forest within the project area $2.66 million

TO LEARN MORE READ THE REPORT LOCATED IN THE DOCUMENTS SECTION!

Any opinions, finding, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publications are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

THANK YOU TO OUR PHASE I PARTNERS

The work upon which this project is based was funded, in whole or in part through a subrecipient grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture nor does mention of trade names, commercial productions, services or organization imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

THANK YOU TO OUR PHASE II AND LIMB UP FOR SAFETY PARTNERS

Funding for this project provided by the Inflation Reduction Act and the USDA Forest Service, Urban and Community Forest Program in partnership with Arbor Day Foundation. USDA and Arbor Day Foundation are equal opportunity providers and employers.