City of Palo Alto Urban Forestry

It is , so please follow along in our week-long series to learn about Our City@Work and ways our Public Works Department team proudly serves the Palo Alto community, advancing priorities such as flood control, sustainability, water quality, roads, engineering and infrastructure and more!

This year’s National Public Works Week theme is "Advancing Quality of Life for All,” and today we are sharing more about our Urban Forestry staff!

Urban Forestry maintains more than 38,000 public trees! Staff inspects and trims more than 28,000 private trees to maintain clearance for overhead electric lines. Urban Forestry is responsible for the planting, maintenance, and replacement of city street trees and parks trees. Their work preserves and increases tree canopy cover as trees provide innumerable community, environmental, and economic benefits. Trees directly improve the quality of life for Palo Alto.

Thank you for all you do for Palo Alto and for loving trees! 🌲 🌳

It is , and we are continuing our week-long series to learn about Our City@Work and ways our Public Works Department team proudly serves the Palo Alto community, advancing priorities such as flood control, sustainability, water quality, roads, engineering and infrastructure and more!

This year’s National Public Works Week theme is "Advancing Quality of Life for All,” and today we are sharing more about our Road Maintenance teams!

Staff teams maintain all 471 lane-miles of Palo Alto’s roads, keeping Palo Alto’s pavement condition index score of 84 one of the highest in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. The Streets, Sidewalk, and Storm Drain Maintenance team is dedicated to supporting the community and enhancing the lives of its residents through infrastructure maintenance and improvement. Staff work advances the integrity and safety of all city streets, ensuring smooth and reliable transit for pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles. Staff maintain and repair sidewalks, curbs, and gutters, contributing to the city's accessibility and aesthetic appeal. Staff also inspects, maintains, and repairs the storm drain piping annually, managing stormwater, reducing the risk of flooding, and protecting the natural environment. Staff also keeps our community clean and safe by removing debris that regularly accumulates on our streets, paths, and parking structures. Approximately 20,000 curb miles of hard surfaces are swept annually, this helps prevent nearly 1900 tons of debris from entering our storm drains, creeks, and eventually the San Francisco Bay. Staff is also responsible for maintaining all traffic control devices installed and include over 61,000 linear feet of painted curbs, over 13,000 traffic signs, and pavement markings such as lane lines and crosswalks.

Thank you for all you do for Palo Alto!

Join the SFBA Chapter for it's May workshop on Thursday 5/16 in Palo Alto. This month, Igor Laćan from the UCCE will be updating us on the new threat to Urban Trees in the south bay, the Invasive Shothole Borer (ISHB). Register at https://www.sfmsa.org/sfba-events

🌳 Join us in celebrating California Arbor Week! 🌳
We're celebrating this week, March 7-14, as California Arbor Week in Palo Alto! 🎉 Let's honor the vital role of trees in our community. Join Canopy and Mayor Greer Stone for a ceremonial Mayor’s tree planting event at Eleanor Pardee Park this Saturday, March 9th, from 2-3pm. Come celebrate and help grow our urban forest! 🌿

Come work for a great Urban Forestry team! City of Palo Alto is hiring a Tree Trimmer / Line Clearer or Tree Trimmer / Line Clearer Assistant. See the job posting for details.

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/paloaltoca/jobs/4349437/tree-trimmer-line-clearer-line-clearer-assistant?page=3&pagetype=jobOpportunitiesJobs

Come on out and join the Urban Forestry Section and the entire Public Works Department at todays Open House Event here at the Municipal Service Center! City of Palo Alto - Public Agency Palo Alto Utilities

The City of Palo Alto - Public Agency updated the tree protection ordinance in 2022. The new ordinance describes the specific categories of Protected Trees in Palo Alto.

The categories of protected trees are:

Locally Native Protected Species Trees
• Big Leaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum) 11.5"+DBH
• California Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) 11.5"+ DBH
• Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) 11.5"+ DBH
• Blue Oak (Quercus douglasii) 11.5"+ DBH
• California Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii) 11.5"+ DBH
• Valley Oak (Quercus lobata) 11.5"+ DBH
• Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) 18"+ DBH

Protected Mature Trees
• Any mature tree measuring 15" or more DBH
• Invasive species trees and high water use trees are excluded.

Designated Trees
• Any tree designated for protection during review and approval of a development project.

Public Trees / Street Trees
• "Public trees" include any tree, in any street, park, or public place in the city of Palo Alto. "Street Tree" refers to the Public Trees located in the city road right of way.

Carbon Sequestration or Environmental Mitigation Trees
• Any tree designated for carbon sequestration and storage and/or environmental mitigation purposes.

Heritage Trees
• Any heritage tree designated by the City Council. See the Heritage Tree List.

Replacement Mitigation Trees
• Any replacement mitigation tree or other tree designated to be planted due to the conditions listed in the ordinance.

See our TPO update page for additional information: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/Departments/Public-Works/Public-Services/Palo-Altos-Urban-Forest/Tree-Ordinance-Update-2022/Tree-Ordinance-Information