SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento is sometimes known as the City of Trees, but data shows the city’s tree canopy lacks that of a healthy urban forest.
Anita Maya with missingTrees.org said the Sacramento region is in what’s called a nature deficit. A healthy tree canopy in a city would have a minimum coverage area of 30%. One estimate by Google Environmental Insights Explorer has the Sacramento tree canopy as low as 14%. The City of Sacramento has that number closer to 19%.
Maya said her organization is hoping to change that by building partnerships focused on planting more trees — specifically, planting trees on every sidewalk. She said their first step is taking inventory where there are missing trees and then collaborating with sponsors and other non-profits.
She added that along with increasing land value and providing shade, this was a tangible way to address climate change. Trees naturally reduce storm runoff and absorb air pollution as well as carbon pollution, one of the big contributing factors to our warming climate.
Climate data shows Sacramento has seen the average number of days at 90 degrees go from 45 at the start of the 20th century to 91 today. The average number of days above 100 degrees also jumped from six days to 24 days.
Anita said she likens this type of temperature increase to when the human body is running a fever. If our body temperature goes up even a couple of degrees, that is a sign of illness. Earth’s temperature has warmed nearly two degrees in the last century, which Maya calls Global Fever.
She said, even beyond the climate issue, trees help lower electricity bills and increase the value of a neighborhood.
The City of Sacramento has also seen a need to increase the tree canopy, dedicating nearly $2 million of federal funding to create an equitable urban forest.
Rachel Patten, City of Sacramento sustainability program specialist, said they are focusing on creating a more equitable urban forest so that every neighborhood feels like they are a part of the City of Trees.
Congresswoman Doris Matsui said they are looking at places that lack a natural canopy. She said some communities didn’t have that in their original plan and others might have lost trees due to damage or disease.
She said the new funding will work on bringing a sustainable solution with the right type of trees planted in the right places.
The City has their urban full plan available for comment until June 21, 2024.
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