DEPARTMENT: Parks and Recreation
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Homer Garcia III, Director
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT:
Briefing on the Urban Forest Inventory and Analysis for San Antonio
SUMMARY:
Briefing on the Urban Forest Inventory and Analysis for San Antonio.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
In 2017, City Council authorized an interlocal agreement between the City and the Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) in the amount of $150,000.00 to initiate an Urban Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) study. The Urban FIA program is promoted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is a comprehensive, field-based tree and forest inventory that serves as the nation’s census for trees. Previous analysis of San Antonio’s tree canopy conducted in 2002, 2003 and 2008 utilized technology that only provided aerial imagery of the City’s tree canopy. The Urban FIA is a much more comprehensive and accurate analysis of a municipality’s forest inventory. Funding to cover the costs associated with the Urban FIA was provided by the 2017 Tree Canopy Preservation and Mitigation Fund Adopted Budget, which is managed by the Parks and Recreation Department.
The Urban FIA consists of intensive field work through which actual sampling and measurement of trees occurs within the City’s geographic boundary and extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), thereby providing a comprehensive, strategic-level, continuous inventory system of the City’s urban forest. Over the course of two years, data was collected following procedures set by USDA Forest Service’s “Field Data Collection Procedures for Urban FIA Plots” manual. TFS crews installed over 100 plots within the city limits and over 100 plots within the City’s ETJ. Collected data was transmitted to USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station for analysis and uploaded into their online management system. Moving forward, 10% of plots will be resampled each year, allowing for a continuous on-going inventory that is updated annually.
TFS is now ready to share the findings of the Urban FIA with the City. After briefing the Community Health and Equity Committee, TFS will coordinate a community outreach plan with City staff from the Parks and Recreation Department and Development Services Department to release the Urban FIA findings. Additional briefings on the Urban FIA will be presented to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board as well the Real Estate Council of San Antonio. Urban FIA findings for San Antonio will be made available to the public via the “My City’s Trees” portal on the TFS website.
ISSUE:
This briefing highlights the findings from the Urban Forest Inventory and Analysis for San Antonio.
ALTERNATIVES:
This item is for briefing purposes only.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This item is for briefing purposes only.
RECOMMENDATION:
This item is for briefing purposes only.