Welcome to our Special Feature on Tree Canopy Financing!

Happy Arbor Day Month to each of you!

Funding was one of the priority needs expressed in our first Chesapeake Tree Canopy 2-Year Workplan. In response,  partners collaborated to produce the new comprehensive guide and sample of community case stories featured in this newsletter.

We’ve recently drafted a new Chesapeake Tree Canopy workplan of priority actions for collaboration in the next two years – currently up for public review and comment through May 3.

Happy reading, happy planting, and THANK YOU for all that you do to nurture trees throughout our vast watershed!

Announcing a New Guide on Financing Urban Tree Canopy

We are proud to announce the release of Financing Urban Tree Canopy Programs: Guidebook for Local Governments in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Prepared by the Environmental Finance Center at the University of Maryland (EFC) and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay (Alliance), this guide is the result of a year-long collaboration with additional partners including the USDA Forest Service, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG), and the Chesapeake Bay Program Forestry Workgroup. This work is funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The content of this guide is inspired by a March 2018 stakeholder meeting.

On December 13, 2018, the Alliance, EFC, and MWCOG hosted a one-day workshop on the case stories highlighted in the guide, inviting representatives to share the important takeaways from the successes funding urban tree canopy. Over 50 people registered for the workshop, representing local and state governments from Washington, D.C., Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, as well as non profits and federal government.

Interested in a hard copy of this guide? Please contact Jenny McGarvey at jmcgarvey@allianceforthebay.org.

Montgomery County, MD: Generating Revenue and Mitigating Tree Canopy Loss

In response to the challenge of protecting canopy loss during redevelopment projects, the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) led an eight-year stakeholder process that resulted in the Tree Canopy Law in 2014. In the same year, Montgomery County also developed the county Roadside Tree Protection Law. These two laws, in addition to the Forest Conservation Law, are important tools to enhance tree canopy, reduce canopy loss, and mitigate for environmental impacts of development. They also created an important source of funding for trees in the County.

Charlottesville, VA: Meeting Tree Maintenance and Management Needs with a Capital Improvement Plan

The City of Charlottesville is pursuing an objective to maximize tree canopy at the neighborhood scale based on land use and density.  A comprehensive Urban Forest Management Plan guides the City in this objective, and canopy assessments every five years measure progress. Charlottesville’s progress in protecting and maintaining its tree canopy is due in part to its Tree Conservation Ordinance, which protects special trees, an active base of citizen champions who serve on the City’s Tree Commission and/or serve as Tree Stewards, and earmarking funds in the City’s Capital Improvement Plan.

Columbia, PA: Leveraging Memberships and Donations to Finance Trees

Columbia is a small town (borough) located on the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  Columbia aims to increase its canopy coverage by 7 percent by 2020.  To achieve this goal, Columbia is working to improve local ordinances and policies, as well as to develop outreach and education strategies that generate additional support and funds for tree plantings.