Advocacy wins support urban nature for all

Many years of Canopy and partner advocacy came to fruition this year with two major milestones: a visionary Urban Forest Master Plan adopted by the City of East Palo Alto and a long-awaited update to the City of Palo Alto's Tree Ordinance.

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"Dream come true" - East Palo Alto adopts visionary Urban Forest Master Plan

In April 2022, the East Palo Alto City Council officially adopted “From Gray to Green: An Urban Forest Master Plan for East Palo Alto ” with the goal of expanding the city’s tree canopy.

“It’s a dream come true,” says Catherine Martineau, Canopy executive director, of the master plan’s creation and adoption. “As the smallest city in Silicon Valley, with a largely BIPOC population, East Palo Alto has historically faced socioeconomic challenges rooted in systemic racism and disinvestment. Yet its city council adopted one of the most innovative urban forest master plans I’ve seen. This positions the city to expand an urban forest that is substantially underdeveloped compared to those in surrounding wealthier communities.”

Palo Alto strengthens urban forest through ordinance update

In June 2022, Canopy applauded the adoption by the Palo Alto City Council of a new protection ordinance, which Canopy and others had ben advocating for for many years. The new ordinance protects three times as many trees, including four new native tree species found in the urban matrix (Bigleaf Maple, Incense Cedar, Blue Oak, and California Black Oak), and ensures that fewer trees will be removed without cause. These updates are the first substantive changes to the Tree Protection Ordinance since 2002.

This process of expanding Palo Alto’s tree protection ordinance began in 2018, led by the city’s former Urban Forestry Manager Walter Passmore and Canopy, but ramped up in 2021 and 2022 with the support of Peter Gollinger, the City's new Urban Forester, city staff who worked on the ordinance update, residents who worked alongside Canopy to champion the policy, and partner organizations who signed a joint letter of support.