Tree Canopy Fund - Trees for Private Property

Arlington County, Virginia has a unique and innovative program to enhance the County’s dwindling tree canopy coverage. While the County has funding and jurisdiction to plant and maintain trees on public property such as streets and parks, the greatest amount of available space to plant trees is on private property. In 2007, a program was developed that provides funds to help homeowners and other private property owners to plant trees on their land. 

The funding is provided by property developers who are unable to place the number of trees required by their site plan on their property when they develop sites. The developers must pay $2400 for every required tree they are unable to plant on their site. This money is used by a local environmental non-profit organization called Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment, to administer the Tree Canopy Fund. Trees are planted for the homeowner by a carefully selected nursery that is able to provide high quality trees that meet the size, species and planting guidelines of the program.

Under this program, community groups such as Civic Associations and Condominium Associations can apply for the funds to have trees planted on their property. There is an emphasis on large, native canopy trees that will provide a number of ecosystem and economic benefits such as street and sidewalk protection, home cooling, stormwater slowing and filtering, carbon sequestration and oxygen production, and wildlife habitat. Applicant groups are encouraged to work with trained TreeSteward volunteers from their neighborhood to help homeowners to select appropriate trees for their site, and to place the tree correctly on the site to meet as many benefits as possible and to avoid hazards such as proximity to power lines.

Arlington County is a suburban community that is quickly becoming urban. Its location adjacent to Washington, DC makes it a desirable location to live and to develop for government-related enterprises.  But this development has caused Arlington to lose a significant amount of tree canopy coverage. Under the Tree Canopy Fund, so far 688 trees have been planted for homeowners by contractors, and funded by the Arlington County Tree Canopy Fund.  To learn more about the fund, visit the Arlington County website http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/Communications/PressReleases/page58308.aspx to read a press release announcing and describing the program. Details about the program, the process and the tree selection list can be found here

http://www.arlingtonenvironment.org/trees

I encourage you to learn about this program, which demonstrates Arlington County’s commitment to maintaining and increasing a healthy urban forest for all of the vital benefits that it provides. Increasing urban tree canopy coverage using appropriate species in the appropriate location is valuable nationally and globally, not just locally. If you can use our program guidelines and procedures to develop a similar program in your community, I would be ecstatic to know you learned about it from me.

To learn more about trees and the importance of planting locally native species, please visit the links on the right ==>