Cleveland's New Division of Forestry Could Help Speed Up Far-Reaching Tree Canopy Goals

Four years ago, in 2020, the Cleveland Tree Coalition released a report depicting a pretty heinous present and possible future for the city's base of trees.

In line with 2017 data, Cleveland was losing some 75 acres per year—roughly 4,950 trees—simply due to natural death. Trees weren't being maintained quickly enough. City Hall suffered from a dearth of qualified arborists.

The city, an accompanying Tree Plan insisted, would have to plant at least 28,500 new trees per year to ensure about a third of Cleveland would be covered by 2040.

At City Hall, that translated as such: How can government do more to ensure Cleveland's greenery fits its hoped-for population growth and health of residents? Tree canopies are vital in helping to control air quality, in bringing down surface temperatures in neighborhoods, and for general health.

"We understand what our goals are. We understand they're ambitious," Ward 15 Councilwoman Jenny Spencer told Scene. "But in terms of city government, urban forestry has not really been able to be part of the discussion, at least from a council perspective."

Spencer's mindset was the basis of pitch, with Councilman Charles Slife, to the rest of City Council in May, one that urged City Hall to form a new Division of Forestry directly underneath the Department of Parks & Recreation. Its predecessor, the Division of Urban Forestry, was, Spencer mused, too obfuscated from needed attention in the Department of Public Works. It needed to be lifted up, given prestige.
[content-2] That's what happened. City Council recently approved a new law creating exactly that division, one that will be headed by a new, and yet-to-be-named, Commissioner of Urban Forestry. One that will, in political theory, gain more wherewithal in keeping city trees healthy, kept and taken care of.

And, in City Council's mind, be able to receive more money from Cleveland's general fund. More money—again, in theory—means more trees planted.

"The issue here is that we are not at scale with tree plantings," Spencer said. "This really helps us answer that question: How are we gonna scale up?"

City trees are one of those issues seemingly without debate. It's rare to find city dwellers that want less greenery on their street rather than petitioning for more.

The problem in Cleveland for the past five or six decades is that local government has seemed to categorize tree maintenance and planting low on the financial totem pole.

"The city has multiple departments that influence the urban forest, but coordination is minimal," the 2015 Cleveland Tree Plan , which lambasted City Hall's "Low" performance rating, stated. "City budget levels have remained level since 2005, departments are stretched thin, and trees are currently a low priority compared to other city infrastructure such as roads, curbs, and sidewalks."

It's likely that a new Commissioner of Urban Forestry could devote that attention, at least in a manner that reverses what's been a downward trend in tree health since the 1960s. According to the new law, that person will watch over ever single tree in the city's care -- removing "hazardous" limbs or roots, trimming those in the way of streetlights, and "develop[ing], coordinat[ing] and implement[ing] the city's tree canopy."

In the past, the city has had roughly 10 arborists working under an upper-level forester and a Manager of Urban Forestry. According to data in the 2024 city budget , the output wasn't exactly glowing. In 2021, new trees planted by the department totaled 1,246. In 2022, it was 350. And in 2023, just 15 were planted.

As is discussed ad infinitum by arborists and members of the Urban Forestry Commission, of which Spencer is a member, planting more sumacs and oaks than those that die from infestation or lack of consistent pruning is the tough balancing act the city hasn't yet quite mastered.

And incentivizing property owners to do the same. (City money can't be spent, Spencer reminded Scene, on planting trees on private property.) The only difference now is that the new Tree Commissioner has the final say in what stays up and what goes down, either to split trunks, bad branches, pest infestation, or major interference with nearby buildings.

The recent $3.4 million USDA federal grant , which is intended to aid the city's canopy, should go directly, Spencer said, into growing the new Division of Forestry into a more capable department. Into erecting more sumacs on Euclid Avenue. Into new maples or elms on dusty Payne. More in Jefferson. In Union-Miles. In Glenville.

"In the past, it's been kind of an afterthought," Spencer said. "Now it's front and center."[content-3]
Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.

Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter