Where Are The Trees We Were Promised?

Two years into the City’s first-ever Tree Plan, our leafy coverage has remained static. What happens now?

This article is published in collaboration with the Philadelphia Citizen as part a project series for the Philadelphia Journalism Collaborative.

On a recent Saturday, more than 30 volunteers gathered in Malcolm X Park to plant street trees on sidewalks in front of homes around West Philly. Despite the rain, they showed up ready to dig out tree pits, spread mulch and get around 30 trees into the ground. 

“Trees are the only piece of [public] infrastructure that appreciates in value,” says Dominique London, director of the nonprofit Tree Tender group UC Green, which led the planting. Tree Tenders is a volunteer program through the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) that plants and maintains trees citywide.

She’s right. Trees take in carbon, reducing the effects of climate change. They provide shade and cool neighborhoods on hot days. Trees can even increase home property values and save homeowners an average of 20-50 percent on heating and cooling costs. As PECO bills are rising, trees can lower overall energy use by up to 25 percent.

Despite these benefits and the efforts of volunteers to plant more trees, the City failed to increase its tree canopy, a measurement of how much of the city is shaded by tree leaves and branches when viewed from overhead, between 2008 and 2018. During this period, we lost more than 1,000 football fields worth of trees, a six percent reduction in our canopy.  Today, our tree canopy covers just 20 percent of the city.

PHS’s planting efforts are only a small portion of what the City needs. They plant about 2,000 trees each year, around 1,000 in the fall and 1,000 in the spring, but in Philly, as elsewhere, young trees in urban environments struggle to survive past their first two years. It takes nearly a decade for planted trees to impact the canopy. Developers cut down additional trees and sometimes they’re older ones, which contribute more to the canopy percentage because they’re larger. 

In 2023, the City released its Tree Plan — a 10-year strategic guide for increasing canopy cover to 30 percent in every city neighborhood. We’re two years into the tree plan, and we’ve tightened up our zoning laws, worked harder to maintain our trees and conducted resident outreach to increase support for trees in the City. In 2024, the City planted 3,724 new trees in parks, yards, on streets, and within commercial corridors. Still, there’s a long way to go and federal funding uncertainty could stymie our efforts. Two years in, here’s a look at how the Tree Plan is doing.

Why has Philly struggled to grow its urban canopy?

The City has had the same goal of increasing canopy cover to 30 percent citywide since Michael Nutter was mayor. The amount of time it takes for a newly planted tree to impact the canopy varies by species and the size of the tree when it’s planted, but the process takes years. Most trees grow slowly for the first two years after being planted and then growth accelerates in the third year. It takes between 15 and 30 years for trees to reach maximum canopy benefits.

Nutter wanted us to reach that goal by 2025. The reasons that didn’t happen are myriad: increased development, lax zoning codes, a lack of planning for trees and not enough maintenance and protection of existing trees. Plus, as temperatures increase with climate change, including Philly, more trees are dying.

“If trees ultimately come down and are not replaced, that constitutes a loss,” says Dr. Hamil Pearsall, a professor of geography, environment and urban studies at Temple University.

Our greening efforts have largely been volunteer-led, in part because City funding for these services has waned dating back to the 1960s. Even before that though, trees were planted and maintained inequitably. In some neighborhoods, the tree canopy is only five percent; others have more than 45 percent coverage, as is the case in wealthier, predominantly White neighborhoods.

“If you look at a map of canopy cover across the city, it becomes very clear that some neighborhoods have a lot of trees, and other neighborhoods don’t have any trees at all,” Pearsall says.

These problems are longstanding; residents have many misconceptions about the benefits of trees. The City has failed to prioritize trees in the past, despite setting canopy goals. Despite health benefits and potential to reduce crime — the Tree Plan estimates that increased canopy cover could prevent 400 deaths per year and result in a 12 percent reduction in crime — most people don’t view trees as necessary infrastructure.

“We’re still shy of a place where we see healthy tree canopy in every neighborhood as something that we view as a must-have rather than a nice-to-have amenity,” PHS President Matt Rader says. “If we were arguing about street paving, people would be pretty outraged if I said that paving was optional.”

What is Philly doing now?

The Tree Plan was released after a community engagement process that reached more than 9,000 residents. It’s the first strategic plan for growing the urban forest in the City’s history with over 23 partners, including the Philadelphia Horticultural Society, Fairmount Parks Conservancy, the USDA Forest Service and a variety of community-based organizations.

The plan outlined eight major focus areas:

• Coordinate support for trees
• Protect existing and future urban forest
• Grow the urban forest equitably across the city
• Reduce the burden of trees on residents
• Invest in people and communities
• Communicate with residents and improve customer service
• Advocate for communities to benefit the urban forest
• Celebrate and support the ways communities are engaging with trees

Within these focus areas are more than 65 specific actions the City and its partners need to take to fully implement the plan. They’re divided into short-, medium- and long-term goals. Short-term goals are to be completed within the first three years, medium-term goals within three to five years and longterm goals by the end of the 10 year plan. The City will release report cards every three years, documenting the plan’s progress.

“The plan was really focused working very intimately with the communities that need the most coverage,” says Jacelyn Blank, vice president and co-founder of the tree tending group Philly Tree People. Blank was part of the tree plan’s steering committee.

In the first two years, the plan has focused initiatives around three big areas: legislation and improving the zoning code, improving communication with residents and proactively maintaining trees.

First, while the Tree Plan was still being drafted, City Council passed Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson’s Philly Tree Fund bill. The bill introduced new requirements for developers to plant trees and fees for violating the code, including a $50 and $400 fee per inch of tree width for trees that are removed and not replaced. If a developer seeks and receives a waiver, exempting them from replacing a tree, they will need to pay a $1,000 per tree fee. They’re also required to submit a landscape and tree preservation plan with their zoning permit application, which needs to be approved by the City Planning Commission.

Developers are also required to plant trees in park and open space projects and lots that are greater than 5,000 square feet. It also issues guidance for lots less than 5,000 square feet.  These kinds of projects were previously exempt from the City’s tree planting requirements.

Then, the City hired someone to manage our urban forest. The City created the City Forester position in 2024 and Erica Smith Fichman stepped into the role. She previously served as the City’s Community Forestry Manager and led the creation of the Tree Plan. The City Forester position established a central point of contact for all tree-related concerns which makes things easier for residents who were often confused by the previous system. Before, tree issues  were overseen by three different departments: Parks and Rec, the Planning Commission and License and Inspections. It was difficult to know where to direct their requests.

“We’re improving the tree canopy through the things that we have control over, like the zoning code,” Smith Fichman says.

From branch reluctance to confusion over tree care: what residents need to know about trees

The third bucket is being more proactive around maintaining trees. The Tree Plan’s engagement process found that while most residents recognized the benefits of trees and were sad when trees are cut down, they didn’t view them as a necessity. At times, it felt like the risks of trees outweighed the benefits. A lot of folks are worried about tree roots pushing sidewalks, or branches from larger trees damaging homes and property if they’re knocked down in a storm. Maintaining a yard tree, especially a large one, can be financially burdensome for residents. Others have fears that tree roots searching for water will damage pipes. (This occurs when a pipe is already damaged and a tree is underwatered.)

“Trees can represent a burden to people, and we try to really tackle that head on,” says Smith Fichman. “A lot of people are not willing to plant new trees when they see that existing trees are not being cared for.”

People were also confused about who’s responsible for tree care and maintenance. Parks and Rec is responsible for planting and maintaining street and park trees in the city, but that doesn’t mean Parks employees are necessarily coming around and pruning and watering trees. They don’t have enough staff for that. Some maintenance is outsourced to contractors who are overseen by the department and some – like emergency response – is done directly by Parks employees.

They also partner with PHS’ Tree Tender groups to assist in the planting of street trees. So Parks and Rec receives, reviews and approves or denies requests for street trees from residents and then Tree Tenders plant and assist with tree inspections and maintenance like pruning in the early years. Residents are then responsible for watering their trees. 

Yard trees are owned and maintained by property owners, since they’re planted on private property. (Helping property owners maintain yard trees is one of the tree plan’s long-term goals). Until recently, the City had a reactive approach to maintenance, waiting for requests to come in before sending someone out.

The City is now working on employing a more proactive approach, where Parks and Rec develops a regular maintenance cycle for inspecting public trees and taking care of any issues, like roots pushing up sidewalks or pruning branches to avoid damage to cars, houses or utility lines during windstorms.

That’s one of the plan’s mid-term goals, but the City has already made some progress. Smith Fichman says that Parks and Rec will have removed all the dead and hazardous trees they’re currently aware of by September. This year, they pruned 2,700 trees — more than they were able to in the previous two years combined, Smith Fichman says. There are currently 26,354 trees on the City’s street tree pruning waitlist and 3,024 on their removal waitlist. Only ninety people are on the planting waitlist.

They’ve also devised plans to plant trees in the areas where residents want them. Some residents want street and yard trees. Others prefer trees in neighborhood parks or along commercial corridors where they pose less of a risk to homes. Parks and Rec has partnered with the City’s Clean Corridors Program to plant street trees in commercial corridors. The Department of Commerce dedicated $60,000 to planting trees in three of the tree plan’s highest priority areas — blocks 1-199 of South 60th Street, blocks 5400-5599 of Chester Avenue and blocks 2600-2999 of North 5th Street.

Community partners are also spreading the word about actions, like widening tree pits and only planting specific kinds of street trees that reduce some of the potential negative impacts trees can have. London works with residents to show them digital mockups of what their entire block would look like if everyone got a street tree.

“Block captains are inviting me to their block, and I’m meeting with 12 to 15 residents,” London says. “I’ll show them what their block could look like with the certain trees that they’re choosing, what it looks like at maturity, and then people are like, oh, now that I see it, now I actually want a tree.”

Do we have the money to pull this off?

It can be difficult for both city officials and residents to see the value in initiatives that take many years to show rewards. We need to consistently fund and work toward the Tree Plan if we want to succeed.

“It’s not that people want to do a bad job or don’t want to meet the City’s goals, it is that there are so many priorities,” says Councilmember Jamie Gauthier. Gauthier represents the third district and chairs Council’s committee on the environment. “I think an important part of my role and Council’s role is to make sure that we keep focused on it and that there is accountability.”

A mix of city, state, federal and philanthropic dollars are needed to support the plan. Funding has already been threatened. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump paused payments from a $12 million grant the Biden administration awarded the City to help with our tree plan. Then a month later, he resumed payments after receiving pushback. The grant funds are meant to be spread over five years.

“The notion that trees are this radical program — a radical liberal initiative — it’s just ridiculous. Trees are important for the environment. Trees are important for our health and safety and well-being,” Gauthier says. “We have to say that to the people who live here in Philadelphia and make sure that they know when the President is talking about ending DEI initiatives, this is what he’s talking about in his mind. He’s saying we can’t have trees. We have to continue to tell that story and call that behavior out so that people can push back.”

Although grant payments have resumed, it’s clear to many involved in the plan that future federal funding is uncertain and cannot be relied upon. The City has increased the amount of funds it’s putting toward the tree plan. For fiscal year 2025, Parks and Rec had an $800,000 budget for tree maintenance, which included a one-time, $500,000 increase for tree pruning.

In her fiscal year 2026 budget proposal, Mayor Cherelle Parker has allotted $84 million for Parks & Recreation, a 2.5 percent increase from 2025. Additionally, she’s proposed $250,000 for tree pruning as part of citywide preparations for the celebration of the 250th in 2026. Smith Fichman says she can’t share details of what their 2026 budget for tree maintenance will be as budget hearings are ongoing.

Without funding, the City won’t have the staff needed to enforce some of the measures it’s already enacted as part of the tree plan and it won’t be able to implement future programs. The Tree Plan calls for hiring a utility tree coordinator to work with utility companies to determine what tree maintenance and removal is needed to ensure access to electricity, gas and water and a sidewalk coordinator to support street tree maintenance and establish a sidewalk repair plan for residents. The City is supposed to fill these positions within the plan’s first three to five years. Long term, Parks & Rec wants to create a team that works more actively with developers to enforce tree planting requirements.

“Parks and Rec can only do so much when they’re given a small amount of money to work with,” Blank says. “It always has to come down to money, unfortunately, and it does not grow on trees. If it did, our streets would be so green.”

Photos by Claudia Salvato photography