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Nature to Nurture The History of Sacramento’s Urban Forest

Original Presentation Dr. E. Greg Mc Pherson and Nina Luttinger, USDA Forest Service Updated Ray Tretheway Sacramento Tree Foundation

Time Periods 1840’s – 1900

Transition from Native to Urban 1900 – 1940’s

City of Trees 1950 to 1980

Fighting to Save Trees 1980 to Present

Urban Forest Renaissance

Transition from Native to Urban 1840’s - 1900

City on the Plains

Park Development

Early Tree Plantings

Early Tree Advocacy

City on the Plains

Sutter’s Fort

Gold Rush

Early Tree Plantings • 1853 - Willows planted to secure levees • 1865 - 50 Locust trees in Plaza Park • 1874 - Cottonwood banned • 1877 - 4,000 Eucalyptus planted Recommendation by Board of Health

“Our citizens have a mania for planting trees. There is hardly a tree in the suburbs that in a few years will not be beautifully shaded by rows of…trees.” Daily Democratic State Journal 1855

City Underwater circa 1850’s

Why Did They Plant Trees?

Public Health Flood Protection

Shade Winter Windbreaks

Food Aesthetics

“In a few years when the thousands of trees that are being planted have grown to a respectable size, our city will almost appear a forest.” Sacramento Bee 1857

Plaza Park 1887

Sacramento’s Park Neighborhoods

Streetcar Suburbs Major Tree Plantings 1860s through 90s

Downtown Sacramento 1885

A Horticultural Showplace

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“Shade trees add much to the beauty of the place; it will be, in a few years, the city of trees.”

1885

A Horticultural Showplace

A new vision For Capitol Mall

Second Period 1900 to 1940’s

Tree Planting Continues

Maintenance Begins

Strong Community Initiatives

Storms and Trees

Tree Planting

1905 Tree planting ordinance 1923 Street tree planting campaign - 1,000 a year

1935 First tree inventory - 60,000 trees (1 tree for every two residents)

Commitment to Parks

Park Gardner 1904

Del Paso Park 1911

Park Department 1911

Park Planner – John Nolan 1915

William Land Park Design 1922

McClatchy Advocacy

Front Page Tree Obituaries

Editorials “The streets can be paved, the car tracks can be laid, the sidewalks constructed, and those majestic

oaks not be sacrificed.” 1913

Early Volunteerism Mrs. J. Henry Miller

Waged campaign to convert swamp to McKinley Park

Volunteered time, energy and

resources

Park dedicated in 1902

Downtown Neighborhood 1907

First Superintendent of Parks

Responsible for 40,000 street trees and 6,000 park trees First Street Tree Inventory 1935

Free Street Trees

Sacramento: A City of Trees

“ The crowning glory that is Sacramento’s – her glorious shade trees, are glorious because the city looks out for them with as much care and anxiety as a fond parent does for her offspring.” Sacramento Bee, August 31, 1939

1938 Wind Storm

944 Trees Lost Topping of Elms requested Smaller, cleaner trees (ash, linden, birch)

Public backlash to tree removals

Storm Damage

Storm Damage

Public Protest Over Tree Removals

“Our city is noted for its beautiful shade trees and it is the duty of the citizens to see that they are preserved. We suggest that the sole power to determine whether a tree is removed be taken out of the hands of one person and placed in the hands of a committee…We, as science teachers constantly present to the future citizens of our city a conservation program in our schools. If commercial influences are always to outweight moral and aesthetic influences, then the teaching of conservation in our schools is futile.” Sacramento Science Teachers Assn. City Council Minutes

Post War Boom 1944 – 1970’s

Waging war on pest and diseases

Tree removals – mounting costs an public protest Waning interest in tree planting

Tree Maintenance

• 5,000 lbs lead arsenate • 3,000 lbs wettable DDT • 2,800 lbs benzene

hexachloride • 4,200 lbs copper sulfate • 9,200 lbs calcium

arsenate • 38,000 lbs ammonium

sulfate

New Tree Planting Regulations 1947

Minimum of 50 feet between street trees. No trees within 20 feet of intersections. No trees planted unless sidewalks exists. Minimum planting space of 4 feet between curb and sidewalk.

Sacramento: A City of Trees

“While it is true that the care and maintenance of our street trees presents a real problem, it is equally true that Sacramento’s street trees constitute one of our major blessings. Sacramento is known throughout the world as the City of Trees and has received wide publicity on this account. Seen from the air, Sacramento’s incorporated area…looks like a veritable Forest.” B. Cavanaugh, City Manager 1950

Smaller Trees, Fewer Trees - Air Conditioning - Smaller Tree Palate (ash, zelkova, Chinese elm) - - 1956 Street Tree Ordinance Update - only protect residential street trees - trees planted only by request - planting not required along commercial streets

Plaza Park circa 1950’s

Pruning the Elms

Sacramento: A City of Trees

Urban Forest Renaissance 1980’s to Present

- New Partners, Leveraged Resources - Community-Based Solutions - Ecosystem Management Approach - Shared vision for stewarding a sustainable urban

forest

Urban Forest Renaissance

City Declining Budgets

City Pop Area Tree# Tree Budget Year (1,000s) (sq miles) (1,000s) (% of city) 1990 29 4.5 1940 106 9.4 65 1.94 1955 179 37.7 100 1.75 1995 393 111.1 158 0.74

Sacramento’s Urban Forest Parking Lot Shade Tree Ordinace

Community-Based Solutions -Sacramento Tree Foundation, 1982 -Sacramento Shade, 1990 -Save the Elms Project, 1993 Research Spurs Renewed Interest in Trees -Urban Forest Ecosystem Study / State of Trees Report

Sacramento’s Urban Forest

Cool Community Project, 1999-2001 -NASA, US EPA Greenprint Initiative, a regional approach 2002 - 6 counties, 22 cities City Best Practices Study - urban forest manager hired - plant largest tree as space allows

Sacramento’s Urban Forest

City Street Tree Inventory 5 year rotational pruning cycle Urban Forest for Clean Air -Air District, US EPA Greenprint Prescription -Public Health and Canopy Cover

Sacramento’s Urban Forest

I-Eco Regional Tree Surveys - 2007 and 2012 Urban Woods Rescue

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