2020-54 - Council Budget Priorities FY2021

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019 Cuyahoga County Tree Canopy Assessment - 2019 On December 1, 2019, the Cuyahoga County Planning Department released a new Tree Canopy Assessment for all of Cuyahoga County. This latest assessment takes satellite data measured in 2017 to update the countywide canopy cover percentages from the first canopy assessment from satellite data gathered in 2011; for which that report was released in December of 2012. What is tree canopy? Tree canopy is the layer of leaves, branches, and stems of trees that cover the ground when viewed from above. The countywide assessment shows an overall loss of tree canopy of 6% from 2011 to 2017 for all of Cuyahoga County. The City of Lakewood saw its canopy cover decrease 27.96% to 22.77% canopy cover from 2011 to 2017, which equates to a loss of 182 acres of tree canopy cover citywide. To further explain the canopy loss, a change from 27.96% to 22.77% canopy cover represents a 18.55% loss of canopy calculated as follows: 27.96% — 22.77% = 5.19 / 27.96 = 18.55%. Although this is only 5.19 percent difference, the percent change for actual loss of the existing tree canopy itself is higher—18.55% It is worth noting as part of this assessment that Cleveland Metroparks had a loss of 5.8% of its canopy from 2011-2017, an indication that natural losses, and not development or urban sprawl, may play the largest role in the overall decline in tree canopy within our region. Of the 18.5 5 % tree canopy loss in Lakewood since the last assessment done seven years ago, 71 % (129 acers) of that total canopy loss has taken place on private property, 24% (44 acers) from City of Lakewood - public property and 5% (9 acers) from Lakewood City Schools and private school property. The highest percentage of tree canopy loss occurred in the Clifton Park neighborhood census tract (northwest portion of the city) of Lakewood with a loss of 28% canopy cover of which 99% occurred on p property. . The only portion of Lakewood that saw a canopy increase was in B irdtown with an increase of 1 %. The loss of canopy cover from private property in the Clifton Park portion of Lakewood alone resulted in over 20% of the total canopy loss (37 acres) in Lakewood. This data may seem a bit puzzling as the current City of Lakewood pubic tree inventory sits at an all-time high of 13,407 trees (an increase of 1,434 trees from the 2012 inventory of 11,973 trees) and that the city has been planting trees the past seven years at a prolific rate. Just this year alone, we planted 544 trees throughout the city at the conclusion of the fall planting season; the largest single year planting effort in our history, eclipsing the previous high of 480 trees planted in 2017. The fact is, as the below snapshot of key reforestation data shows, that the City of Lakewood is well positioned to grow the next generation of urban tree canopy and will, over time, increase of overall tree canopy on public property. Citywide net gain of trees from 2013 thru 2019 = 1,434 Trees. Total city tree inventory—13,407 trees, our highest inventory number to date.