In March 2018, the City was awarded a grant from California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) in the amount of $573,931.00 to undertake a series of tasks with the purpose of reducing local greenhouse gas. The CAL FIRE grant incorporated the following scope of work: development of a comprehensive UFMP; City Tree Ordinance update; canopy cover assessment; and, greenhouse gas calculations related to 363 trees planted along the four segments of the Medal of Honor Bike and Pedestrian trail from Nelson to Brookhurst Street.

In June 2019, the City awarded a contract to Davey Resource Group, Inc. (Davey Resource) to complete the UFMP, Tree Ordinance update, canopy cover assessment, and greenhouse gas calculations.

It should be noted a portion of the grant funded the landscaping (363 trees) and the irrigation system along the Medal of Honor Bike and Pedestrian trail. 

Over the past ten months, staff worked closely with the Davey Resources to initiate the draft UFMP. During the planning process, Davey Resources reviewed the City’s tree inventory, forestry practices, and met with city stakeholders, including various city departments, and the collective feedback were incorporated into the UFMP as the vision, concepts, goals, objectives, and actions. Additional outreach efforts included community meetings, on-line and in-person surveys, several in-person events in City parks and a city-wide tree art contest for K-12 Garden Grove students to educate them regarding the importance of trees.

The 2020 UFMP is now complete and will ultimately serve as a guide to manage, enhance, and grow the Garden Grove urban forest and the community tree resource for the next 40 years.  The City’s urban forest incorporates a city-wide tree inventory consisting of publicly managed trees along streets, parks, and at City-owned facilities along with the canopy cover assessment. While the UFMP is primarily focused on the stewardship of the community tree resource, the UFMP considers private trees as they contribute significantly to Garden Grove’s livability and environmental quality.  Highlighted are a few of the UFMP objectives:

• Identify best management practice that support the health, benefits, and safety of the community trees;

• Increase health and resiliency of the urban forest by improving species diversity, and managing pests and invasive species;

• Develop a cohesive organizational structure to facilitate collaboration for managing the urban forest;

• Nurture an urban forest among City Staff, community organization, residents, and businesses; and,

• Identify baseline metrics and clear goals for City Staff.

A primary emphasis for the UFMP is to identify adequate resources to ensure that critical tree care needs can be addressed in a timely, cost-effective, and efficient manner.  This includes the proactive identification of potential hazards and risks and mitigation measures to promote public safety and reduce liability. The UFMP further identifies goals and actions for improving tree health, increasing species diversity, minimizing tree risks, optimizing urban forest programming, existing funding, staffing, and urban forest policy.

The CAL FIRE grant also involves an update to the City’s Tree Ordinance. From the UFMP process, recommendations were drafted to amend Chapter 11.32 of the Municipal Code to align the City efforts to manage, enhance, and grow the Garden Grove urban forest and the community tree resource for the next 40 years.  A redlined version of the ordinance showing the revisions to the existing regulations is attached for your review and reference.

Adoption of the UFMP and Tree Ordinance Update will have no fiscal impact to the City.

It is recommended that the City:

• Adopt the Resolution approving and adopting the 2020 Urban Forest Management Plan; and,

• Conduct the first reading of and introduce the attached Ordinance amending Chapter 11.32 of the Garden Grove Municipal Code.