Tree Canopy Preservation in Washington, DC

In 2002, the DC Council passed the Urban Forest Preservation Act (UFPA), citing the critical importance of trees in Washington, DC.

The Urban Forest Preservation Act:

•  Regulates the removal of mature trees 
• Requires tree preservation during construction activities
• Provides funding mechanism for replacement planting
•  Subsidizes hazardous tree mitigation 

The launch of Sustainable DC in 2011 established a goal of achieving a citywide tree canopy goal of 40% by 2032. To track our progress toward this goal, DDOT's  Urban Forestry Division  performs land cover assessments every five (5) years. To date, four (4) studies have been conducted, spanning the period between 2006 and 2020.

To learn more about the state of DC's Urban Tree Canopy, please visit this story.

In 2016, legislation designated trees with a circumference of 100" or more as Heritage Trees, and provided them protection from removal. While land owners are prevented from removing non-hazardous trees, they are able to relocate them to accommodate development interests. The first instance of Heritage Tree relocation in the District occurred at the former Fannie Mae Headquarters, located on Wisconsin Ave NW.

Heritage Tree Relocation at the Ferebee Hope Recreation Center

Another example of Heritage Tree protections in action can be observed at the Ferebee Hope Recreation Center site, in Southeast DC. While most of the site has been cleared to make way for a new school and recreation center, a mature Heritage Tree has been shifted ~150 feet north. You can swipe the view below to see the prior site conditions, compared with the recent changes; the relocated Heritage Tree had been directly in the center of the project site, and has since been moved to the northern edge of the parcel.

Despite a recent loss of 565 acres between 2015 - 2020, The city has experienced a net gain overall of 425 acres since the initial analysis in 2006. While any overall loss of tree canopy is unwelcome, there are promising signals for future canopy growth and evidence that the District's regulatory framework is effectively balancing the pressures imposed by economic development on the urban forest resources of the city.

By leveraging insights from earlier land cover assessments, possible planting area can be identified and prioritized. The Wheeler Creek community in Southeast DC provides an excellent example of how land cover assessments enable land managers to direct resources to areas of greatest opportunity. This community was largely devoid of street trees in 2006. By aggressively directing tree planting resources over many years, DDOT has achieved robust canopy growth at the neighborhood scale. Observe the change over time in the Wahler Ct median, which is highlighted in the image gallery below.