Typical staffing for the Division includes three, full-time team members who must be certified arborists by the International Society of Arboriculture. In 2022, an additional Urban Forestry Technician position was authorized bringing the total staffing to four. In addition to full-time urban forestry staff, temporary part-time staff, contracted personnel, administrative support and department management  staff help with the workload.

Current staffing levels are low, with only the Urban Forestry Manager and Urban Forest Technician positions filled. The Division is assessing future staffing levels (see new proposed positions in the organizational chart below, indicated in gray). They are also evaluating the associated in-house versus contract responsibilities needed to care for the urban forest.

Organizational Chart

Equipment

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The Urban Forestry Division has the equipment needed for one functional in-house crew. Staff have access to vehicles, chipper and trailer, stump grinder, as well as tree planting and young tree care equipment. A bucket truck is shared among Departments, but Urban Forestry staff are not currently trained to use it, due to recent staff turnover. Vehicles and large equipment are routinely maintained by City Fleet Services and Urban Forestry staff maintain chainsaws and pole saws. Staff check equipment daily, as well as conduct and participate in safety training as needed.

With the transitions of the Division, the inventory of City trees has also shifted between management database programs. When the Division was moved to Parks and Community Services, the inventory was transferred to an asset management system that was specific to managing trees. The tree inventory management system used in the Parks and Community Services Department was not capable of communicating with the Public Works Utilities & Operations departmental-focused asset management system and service request system, which was challenging. When the Division moved back to Public Works Utilities & Operations, the inventory was transferred back to the departmental-focused asset management system to improve workflow planning. The asset management system is not currently set up for all of the functions needed for tree inventory management. Therefore, the Public Works Utilities & Operations Department is working with department staff and GIS staff to customize an urban forestry dashboard within the current asset management system that shows the information in a user defined format that provides efficiency and clarity for the Urban Forestry Division staff. This is being done with dedicated resources the Public Works Utilities & Operations Department has to maintain and improve the database and user interfaces.

In 2018, the City conducted an inventory of all trees in the public rights-of-way. Easements are not consistent throughout the community. In some areas of the City, there are no public easements. However, there are trees that are maintained by the City in these areas, such as large trees in the Davis Commons that are adjacent to a bicycle path and crosswalk. There are some privately-owned and maintained trees within the public easement. The inventory includes data specifications that identify which trees are maintained by the City. Recently, Public Works Utilities & Operations has conducted outreach to improve residents’ awareness of “City trees”, including:

• Providing City tree information to new property owners, to multifamily and commercial property managers, to rental property managers, and directly to renters through informational packet mailings

• Updating the Urban Forestry webpage

• Publishing a tree-focused Greener Davis newsletter and including regular articles about trees

Field staff are assigned tablets to take notes on work records as work orders are addressed. City contractors do not currently update the City asset management system when work orders are completed. Instead, contractors will submit maintenance records for Public Works Utilities & Operations team members to update the City asset management system. 

Service Requests and Work Orders

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Residents can submit service requests for City trees via email, phone, or through the MyDavis app. Once a service request is received, a work order is generated. The work order is then assigned to an Urban Forestry team member. Most service requests are for tree inspections to identify maintenance needs/safety concerns, to address fallen, broken, or hanging limbs, or tree removal. Work orders that are related to immediate hazards, such as fallen trees, falling/splitting trees, dead trees, and storm damage are prioritized before other maintenance requests. 

In 2022, records show there are approximately 450 open service requests. Recent increases in storms, successive drought stress, high-intensity wind events, and an aging urban forest have resulted in a steady increase of service requests. On average, Urban Forestry receives 50 to 60 service requests per month and completes an average of 30 to 40 work orders per month. Typically, residents can expect to wait anywhere between two weeks and two months for a response from Urban Forestry staff. Similar to when residents request service, a work order is generated when another City department requests service for trees. Current staffing levels have greatly contributed to delays in response times to requests for tree maintenance and the City is working to address the backlog of service requests both in-house and with contractors. In recognition of this, City Council approved staff’s 2022 request for an additional in-house position and an additional $400K for contracted services to attempt to address the current and projected backlog.

City field staff assess service requests and create a work order through the departmental-focused asset management system, which is also used to track the status. 

Urban Forestry team members receive a special work order request to review tree ownership at least five times each week. These “ownership checks” can require team members to review index cards dating back to the 1970s or developer agreements to determine who owns a tree. Sometimes the results of an “ownership check” are inconclusive.

Urban Forestry Technicians typically plant trees by maintenance zone. Planting is seasonal and primarily occurs between October and March. Urban Forestry Technicians provide two years of young tree maintenance to newly-planted trees before they are incorporated into the regular pruning cycle. In 2021, 314 city trees were planted, and around a quarter of these were planted to replace trees that had been removed. Although records on tree planting over the last decade were not maintained, this is more tree plantings than a typical year. Moving forward, Public Works will track the number of city trees planted annually. 

Currently, most city trees are planted through a collaboration between the City of Davis and Tree Davis with funds made available by CAL FIRE Proposition 68. Between fall 2019 and spring 2022, the Community Canopy Grant Program provided funding for the planting of nearly 1,000 climate-ready trees on both public and private land throughout Davis. As part of the Community Canopy Program, Tree Davis has provided city tree planting and young tree maintenance. As the Community Canopy Grant Program comes to a close, Tree Davis is planting replacement trees for those lost during establishment. Residents will be able to request city trees from Public Works Utilities & Operations by filling out an online form (link is coming soon) 

Additional city tree planting efforts augment the City’s tree planting program and closely follow the City’s Tree Planting Standard. For example, Tree Davis provides a tribute tree program to the community, where trees are planted on public or private land to honor or commemorate a loved one. For more information, navigate to Tree Davis' Tree Tribute Program webpage. The majority of tribute trees are planted on public land such as in the Memorial Grove located on City parkland which is managed and maintained by Tree Davis. Loved ones are commemorated with a plaque or, more recently, on the central sculpture in the park. In addition, new developments are implemented to meet the City’s design standards and include city tree plantings.

Replacement tree plantings may be required per city code (Chapter 37) as a condition for accepting any tree removal applications. However, this is up to the discretion of the Urban Forestry Manager and may be covered instead by a fee deposited towards the street tree fund. New tree plantings, or a street tree fee, may be required for new building development if there are not sufficient street trees present, at the discretion of the Public Works/Utilities & Operations Director. Decisions on new tree planting and replacement planting for building permits or removal applications may require the support of an arborist report, paid for by the applicant/resident, as well as a security deposit, to ensure proper care and protection of trees.

Parking lots must be planted with enough trees to cover at least 50% of the expected area within 15 years. All trees in parking lots must be selected from the Master Tree List and identified as parking lot shade trees, unless otherwise approved by the director.

Alternatives to the removal of protected trees are occasionally proposed with designs that allow for more soil volume/air and water infiltration (e.g., permeable pavements, chokers, stormwater catchment swales/planting areas, suspended pavements). Sometimes designs are changed entirely to avoid the removal of a tree, and there is interest in the use of alternative materials to allow for trees to remain. 

Stanton, CA example of permeable pavement in parking lots 

The overall goal of stormwater mitigation is to reduce runoff during storm events by implementing appropriate designs during development. However, the installation of some stormwater management systems has the potential to impact existing trees, which are an important tool for intercepting rainfall and slowing runoff. Greater consideration for the roots of existing mature trees should be considered during the design and implementation of stormwater management systems. 

Infill development and remodels within the community have led to some projects going without adequate consideration for existing trees. Section 37.03 does not require tree protective measures for single-family homes. Currently, site plans are not required to identify all trees that may be affected by construction activities. Aside from revisions to the ordinance, education and additional staffing are needed to protect existing trees from irreparable harm and to ensure that trees that are to be retained are maintained in perpetuity. 

Subdividers/property owners must plant trees in accordance with Tree Planting Guidelines and Street Tree Planting Standards. Subdividers are required to plant a minimum of one street tree per lot for all developments, including single family, duplex, and multi-family lots. and must agree to care for trees for a minimum of 180 days complete with two inspections by the Urban Forestry Manager in order for the City to accept a tree as a City tree. All work must be done in compliance with ANSI A300 standards. A tree will not be accepted as a City of Davis Street Tree if tree care and maintenance does not follow these standards.

Tree plantings are required to meet the City’s Tree Planting Guidelines and follow the specifications in the Street Tree Planting Standard. The tree planting guidelines require the installation of:

• “Reddy stakes”
• Perforated tubes
• Spray head
• Root barriers
• Tree ties with plastic tubing
• Rock fill

• Planting hole dimensions
• Staking
• Mulching
• Watering
• Maintaining the tree according to ANSI standards

The Urban Forestry Division tries to enforce tree protection during Capital Improvement Projects through the permitting and the inspection processes. Several recent projects have implemented alternative planter designs and structural cells in order to promote trees and increased canopy cover. Notably, the recently completed 3rd Street improvements project included permeable pavement and structural soils. 

Tree Protection Monitoring and Enforcement

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Per municipal code, trees must be protected from construction activities that may injure a protected tree. Protection procedures are provided for applicants through the Tree Protection Standards. The standards include a formula for defining the tree protection zone and diagrams for protective fencing for the tree protection zone. 

When otherwise healthy trees are removed, it is important to mitigate the loss in benefits from those trees. Despite this, it is not uncommon for trees in commercial areas to be removed, neglected, or irreparably damaged. Most, if not all of the time, the mitigation for City tree removal is replacement planting. Currently, the tree ordinance does not include a requirement to maintain mitigation plantings.  

Pruning Permits

The City requires a Tree Modification Permit for pruning of any City trees on residential property, commercial, multi-family or HOA developments. The City provides pruning to all City trees on a 7-year cycle and residents can submit service requests for the City to prune City trees on their property. A Tree Modification Permit allows residents to avoid waiting for the City to prune a tree on the cycle rotation. Appeals, should the City reject the application for pruning, are presented to the Tree Commission for review.

Landmark Trees

The designation of Landmark trees through ordinance, has been a means for recognizing and protecting trees that are unique or outstanding specimens of a species, historically or culturally significant to the community. Currently there are over 90 landmark trees throughout the community. Per Municipal Code Chapter 37, if a landmark tree is on private property, it is cared for by the private property owner. The program offers property owners free consultation/advice from the City Arborist.

Parking Lot Shade Enforcement

Parking lot shade canopy goals are not easily enforced. Trees are monitored at time of development and planting during the Urban Forestry Manager’s approval of the landscape plan. The trees can also be monitored when a tree modification permit is applied for though it is not a current practice. 

An average of 225 to 275 city trees are removed every year. The most common reasons for removal are that the tree is dead or a tree has a severe defect that cannot be practically corrected. Most removals are completed by contractors, but smaller trees are removed by in-house urban forestry team members. Stump grinding occurs, but sometimes months after the removal, either completed in-house (small tree stumps) or by contractors. Debris produced from removals and pruning are chipped and those chips are used in parks and open space. The City contractor will utilize larger wood pieces in their own reuse program. 

Tree removal requests are required for all City trees, including trees on private residential property within the easement as well as trees in parks or greenbelts adjacent to private property. However, if it is determined by the Urban Forestry Manager that a City tree tree is dead, has fallen, is actively falling, or is expected to fail, a tree removal form may not be required. Residents are encouraged to meet with the Urban Forestry Manager to gain information and an evaluation of a tree before submitting a Tree Removal Request form. If a form is needed, removal requests are evaluated by the Tree Commission on a case-by-case basis. If approved, whether by review or by a pre-approved condition, tree removals will be performed by city staff or a contracted arborist.

For all development-related removals of significant or landmark trees, Davis has tree mitigation standards which require replanting trees either on-site, off-site or a combination of both. All replacement trees on-site must be planted at the determined ratio for removed trees, with equivalent DBH sizes as determined by species size class. The DBH requirement to ensure there is no net loss of tree diameter may be met by multiple trees of smaller diameter, for example, a 12 inch DBH  tree can be mitigated with two 6 inch DBH trees. If it is determined by the Urban Forest Manager that onsite replacement plantings are unfeasible, the applicant may pay a fee to the Tree Preservation Fund to support off-site replantings. 

Residents and developers can appeal Tree Commission decisions as well as Urban Forestry Division decisions on Tree Modification Permits within 10 days. The tree removal and replanting processes can be found here. 

Tree Commission

The City of Davis Tree Commission consists of a group of eight volunteers who provide guidance to the Urban Forestry Manager and to City Council regarding tree removal and replacement requests, through the Removal Permitting process. Members serve four year terms and meet once a month to:

• Review and approve or deny tree removal requests
• Hear appeals regarding tree modification permit applications
• Recommend trees for Landmark Tree designation to City Council

The Urban Forestry Manager serves as the staff liaison to the City’s Tree Commission, which includes the following duties:

• Inform the commission of changing policies, procedures, and Council goals and suggest methods and provide resources to accomplish these goals
• Provide background and context on proposed removals
• Educate new members about their roles and responsibilities
• Share information about projects, activities, and work that affects Davis’ trees
• Report on positive and negative aspects of proposed removals
• Communicate citizen concerns to the Tree Commission

The Urban Forestry Manager conducts an initial review of permit applications, considering the health, age, and species of the tree prior to submitting the application to the Commission for review and approval. The Urban Forestry Manager makes recommendations to the Commission on whether removal permits should be granted or denied based on their findings. Without clear criteria for the Urban Forestry Manager and the Commission to reference, decisions on removals may be subjective. For some trees, the time it takes to complete the removal permitting process can present concerns for public safety or irreparable infrastructure damage. On average, Tree Commissioners review 2-3 tree removal requests at their monthly meetings. 

The Tree Commission has indicated interest in changing the name of the Commission to the Urban Forest Commission to better reflect the Commission's role in the protection and preservation of trees and canopy on both public and private property.

The Urban Forestry Division does not regularly treat trees for pests and pathogens. Tree species susceptibility to pests and pathogens are taken into consideration when making decisions on planting. 

The Urban Forestry Division follows the City’s Integrated Pest Management Policy and Procedures and consults industry experts for additional information about how to proceed with management of pests and diseases. The following pests and pathogens are present in Davis:

• Mistletoe- The City has a mistletoe removal program. Typically mistletoe removal is scheduled in conjunction with other tree maintenance. 

• Anthracnose- This disease appears on several species in Davis and is not actively managed. 

• Fire blight- Disease resistant trees are planted whenever possible and to address diseased trees, infected material is removed during routine pruning.

• Thousand cankers disease- Walnut trees are inspected and receive the recommended maintenance at designated intervals, including those on Russell Blvd. 

• Dutch elm disease- Diseased trees are removed and elm replacement plantings are being done with hybrid elms that are less susceptible.

There are many pest and disease threats that are not present in Davis. The following pests and pathogens are likely to establish in the future if preventative measures are ineffective:

• Invasive shothole borers- Invasive shot hole borers (Euwallacea spp.) and Fusarium dieback were first found in Southern California in 2003 and now have established populations in six counties (University of California, 2021). These beetles have the potential to colonize healthy or stressed trees and have a large host range consisting of more than 260 plant species (Umeda et al. 2016).

• Emerald ash borer- As of 2022, emerald ash borer was located in Oregon, which is the first report in the western United States. This beetle poses a threat to all ash species in Davis, and studies have shown the common olive (Olea europaea) is also a host (Cipollini et al. 2017). 

The City strives to maintain trees on a 7-year maintenance cycle and information is posted on the City website so the community can anticipate when trees in particular areas of Davis will be pruned. Maintenance currently is primarily reactive and based on current resourcing and recent storm events. The City’s contractor is at least a year behind in their cycle. However, recent augmentation of resources is contributing to a significant catch-up on pruning efforts. The City conducts in-house pruning on small trees. The City does not conduct any pruning in trees where there are conflicts with overhead power lines; this work is the responsibility of PG&E. The Urban Forestry Division contracts tree pruners for approximately 80% of city-maintained trees (~24,300 trees) and aims to accelerate maintenance work to get back to a regular pruning cycle. The costs for proactive pruning on a 7-year cycle exceed the current budget (Technical Guidance → Example Work Plan). 

Root pruning is sometimes beneficial for offsetting conflicts with hardscape. Roots that are less than two-inches in diameter are pruned by a contractor. Larger root pruning requires supervision by the Urban Forestry Manager.

 

Collaborator Findings:

Collaborators expressed concern that the current level of maintenance is not meeting the community’s expectation. There was particular concern around inspection and follow up maintenance for aging trees and park trees. There was recognition that reactive maintenance is creating inefficiencies in service. There were also ideas to improve the yard material pile collection program by expanding pick up services.

Optimize urban forestry programming

Currently, approximately 80% of all tree maintenance is completed by contractors. For the last ten or so years, contract services have been utilized to meet the needs for tree maintenance. In recent years, the City has more than doubled funding to contract services with the goal to lessen the backlog of service requests and make tree maintenance more proactive. 

Contractors are required to follow ANSI A300 and Z133 standards. In the current agreement, contractors are required to upload tree inventory data each month. The City is exploring ways to have a real time, up-to-date inventory that captures data as maintenance occurs, even maintenance completed by contractors. The following work is partially contracted: 

• Tree planting
• Tree pruning
• Tree removal
• Emergency response

Contractor monitoring has been a challenge with the current staffing levels. The new Urban Forestry Manager has been working with the contractor to ensure maintenance meets the standards of Urban Forestry Division, industry standards, and community expectations. 

The City has an emergency response plan. All City employees, including the Urban Forestry Division staff, are designated disaster workers and are involved in emergency response. Each new City employee is trained on emergency response, though supplemental yearly training is inconsistent. When needed, staging areas are set up during severe weather events in order to store tree debris and other materials.

Each new property owner receives a packet in the mail containing information on City services, including on city trees and resident responsibilities. The City regularly provides residents an opportunity to stay up to date on urban forestry topics through their educational mailings, tree-focused newsletter, social media, and their continually updated urban forestry webpages. As a result, most community members should be aware of the urban forestry program and its policies. However, education and outreach efforts are likely not reaching community members who rent and/or whose first language is not English.

There are various city-wide environmental awareness efforts that include participation from the City’s Urban Forestry Division. Annually, the City recognizes local organizations through the Environmental Recognition Awards and holds an Arbor Day Celebration. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Arbor Day celebrations were located in Central Park. Celebrations included tree-themed arts and crafts and students at public schools were invited to participate in an art contest. Community members could also engage in simple/safe tree climbing, and an information fair with more than 10 participating urban forestry partners and sustainability organizations. 

The local non-profit Tree Davis and the City provide educational opportunities and information to promote stewardship of the urban forest. Some of Tree Davis’s community events include the Oak bike tour and the Great Tree Search as well as programs that recognize significant trees and make them more widely known in the community, provide volunteer opportunities for community members to help with tree planting and pruning events. 

Stable and predictable funding is critical to effective and efficient management of the urban forest. Trees are living organisms, constantly growing and changing over time and in response to their environment. There are a number of factors that affect tree health and structure, including nutrition, available water, pests, disease, wind, and humidity. In addition, some specific maintenance is critical at certain stages of life. For instance, young trees benefit greatly from early structural pruning and training. Minor corrections that are simple can be applied with low costs when a tree is young. However, if left unattended, they can evolve into very expensive structural issues and increase liability as trees mature (at which point it may be impossible to correct the issue without causing greater harm).

Overly mature trees often require more frequent inspection and removal of dead or dying limbs to reduce the risk of unexpected failure. A stable budget allows the Urban Forestry Manager to program the necessary tree care at the appropriate life stage when it is most beneficial and cost effective.

The majority of City tree operations are funded through the General Fund. The amount of funding received from the General Fund is subject to change, and depends on the greater economy as well as the needs of other high-priority programs (e.g., public safety and infrastructure). Davis’ funding for city tree maintenance is supported by these primary sources:

• General Fund
• Preservation Fund
• Park Maintenance Tax

The City has also sought other funding sources to offset dependence on these funds such as the recent funding from CAL FIRE through Proposition 68. 

The total annual cost of managing the City tree resource in Davis is approximately $1.6 million. The majority of costs are attributed to annual pruning. As the City has become more reliant on contracts for tree maintenance, the budget for contract maintenance services has nearly doubled from $566,000 in 2017-2018 to $1,188,575 in 2021.

Urban Forestry Division Funding Allocation 2021-2022

Identified Shortfalls

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The Urban Forestry Division is not able to provide the level of tree care the community expects within the current operating budget. Current funding for tree maintenance and planting are not currently adequate and would need to be expanded to allow for proactive maintenance and more planting projects (see Technical Guidance→ Example Work Plan). Available funds are used to balance the many urban forest needs. The table below provides estimations for the amount of time City staff spend on urban forestry tasks related to (1) Asset Management and Maintenance, (2) Code Enforcement, (3) Regulatory Framework, (4) Education and Outreach, (5) Advisory Roles, and (6) Other.

Estimated Staff Time to Complete Urban Forestry Division Services

Table Footnotes: 

¹ Urban forestry work is accomplished via Urban Forestry Division staff, department administrative staff, staff from other departments, as well as contractors and non-profits.

² Several tasks are not included in the table such as routine tree inspections, equipment maintenance,  and hiring and training new staff

³ Currently the Urban Forestry Division estimates they prune 20% of trees. Moving forward, the Division will need to determine how much of this work they would like to contract out and what capabilities they would like their in house crew to have (e.g., whether or not they would like climbers on staff or tree crew working from the ground or a bucket truck)

⁴ Seasonal May-October

⁵ Temporary, assuming a full inventory will be done

Materials, equipment/supplies, and their maintenance and repair are not included in these estimates. Continuing to track and document urban forestry related tasks and the resources needed will be essential to project the resources needed.

Future Budget Projections

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Maintenance budget projections: Based on the Example Work Plan, on average it costs $180 a year to provide routine maintenance to a city tree in Davis (i.e., there are 24,848 trees/palms and pruning activities total $4.9 million). With the recent increase in tree planting through the Community Canopy Program and the goal to have a fully stocked inventory with proactive maintenance, the number of trees in the community will increase. In turn, the maintenance budget projection will increase. Additional maintenance occurs outside of the regular schedule in response to emergency events (e.g., storm event, pest or pathogen epidemic), planting location (e.g., parks, green belts, transit routes), and individual tree  requirements (e.g., species or age).  

Staffing budget projections: Approximately 14 FTE are needed to complete all urban forestry related services. In house staffing projections are for seven Urban Forestry Division staff members dedicated to urban forestry, one Public Works Utilities & Operations Department administrative staff member dedicated to urban forestry with additional in-house support provided by administrative and managerial staff members in the Public Works Utilities & Operations Department. Contracted work is projected to fill in the remaining tree maintenance needs. In addition, operating costs are anticipated to continue to rise annually (an estimated 2% to 5%).  

Potential Funding Sources

Leveraging municipal funds through partnerships and grant programs with other sources of funding from local, state, and federal organizations and establishing multiple funding sources can help provide sustainable funding for the urban forest. Municipal funds for tree care are already stretched thin, which requires further supplementation through other potential funding sources, including:

Local Measures and Revenue 

Several local measures could raise revenue for urban forestry efforts, including: 

• Ballot measures to provide dedicated funding for parks, recreation, environmental conservation, and stormwater infrastructure. 

• Capital cost recovery fees (e.g., infrastructure or utility fees), impact fees, and fees collected from permits, development/land alteration, and mitigation can be dedicated to the urban forest. Capital improvement projects include consideration for trees, planter sites, and impervious and reflective/light colored surfaces, when applicable.

• An overlay district, such as a Tree Management District, generates funds that can be dedicated solely to urban forestry programming.

• Policies and regulations around City tree establishment and care can also impact the cost of maintenance. This includes requirements for tree planting and maintenance in new developments or on City-owned land adjacent to private property.

• Short- or long-term municipal bonds.

• Local taxes on real estate, parcels, energy, and/or commodities. For example, a parcel tax could be based on the amount of impervious surfaces on the parcel and the generated tax dollars could go toward stormwater capture as they do in the Los Angeles Flood Control District Safe Clean Water Program (SCW). 

• Carbon markets/registry programs where forestation projects are set up to capture carbon and investors purchase carbon credits as offsets for organization emissions.

Public-Private Partnerships

Local and regional businesses, which may or may not be related to urban forestry, participate in urban forestry or provide sponsorships based on mutual common goals. In addition, utility companies (e.g., Pacific Gas & Electric [PG&E]) may have funding for energy conservation and environmental initiatives. 

Non-Profit and Private Foundation Support

Tree Davis provides urban forestry programs that support City initiatives, increase public participation, and provide additional resources for urban forestry through donations, volunteerism, and stewardship.

California ReLeaf, Arbor Day Foundation, and TREE Fund offer tree planting, green infrastructure, and education and outreach grants to local governments and partnering non-profits. However, grant funding sources are not stable or sustainable. Frequently, grant funds are restricted to planting trees. Once trees are planted, funding for ongoing maintenance will be dependent on municipal funds.

State and Federal Funding

• California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) administers several grant programs to help implement green streets and landscape improvements along the state highway system and in local communities such as the State Beautification Program, Sustainable Transportation Planning Grants, Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Grant program, and the Clean California Grant Program. In 2022, the Clean California Grant Program provided $100 million in grant funding to local California communities to create more livable communities through improved walk and bike-ability, beautification, and reduction of urban heat islands.

• California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) has grant programs to address environmental and urban forestry related state policies such as the California Urban Forestry Act and California Global Warming Solutions Act. Current grant programs include the Urban and Community Forestry Programs, Urban Greening Program, and Green Schoolyards Grant. 

• California Air Resources Board administers grant programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions thereby providing public health and welfare benefits. Programs that relate to urban forestry include California Climate Investments Program and Community Air Grants.
• USFS National Urban and Community Forestry has a federal matching grant program focused on the vitalization of urban and community forests across the nation. In 2022, the program funded approximately $1 million to Goal 7-Strategy B of the National Ten Year Urban and Community Forestry Action Plan (2016–2026), to create a nationwide urban forestry public awareness and education messaging campaign.
• Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program (ICARP) is introducing three upcoming grants including the (1) Adaptation Planning Grant Program, (2) Regional Resilience Planning and Implementation Grant Program, and (3) Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Grant Program. These programs are to fund local, regional, and tribal climate adaptation and resilience efforts across the state.

• California Water Boards and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers grant funding to address Proposition 1, the Water Quality, Supply and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 to increase water quality and promote groundwater recharge. 

• California State Conservation Corps provides programs and grants related to environmental conservation and restoration. 

• Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District provides grant funding for clean air initiatives.

Other sources of funding may be available such as multidisciplinary grants and grants aimed at providing improvements or desired goals and outcomes related to trees or the benefits they provide. Funding on human health, complete streets, climate change, severe weather events, air quality, wood utilization (including biofuel and energy), wildlife conservation, pests and disease, and education may also influence funding for the urban forest. Additional funding may also become available. Some more specific examples include:

• American Rescue Plan Act Funds are provided as a federal stimulus plan to provide funding to State and local governments in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on commitment of funds by the Davis City Council in 2022, these funds may be used for downtown infrastructure improvements. 

• Seed funding through Clean Water Act Section 319 or through the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

• California Department of Parks and Recreation has a Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program (SPP) to create new parks and recreational opportunities throughout the state through Proposition 68 focused on conservation, access to greenspace, and water infrastructure.