Why?

Why do you need to develop a plan?

The reasons you advance will need to resonate with those who will approve and fund the development and implementation of the plan. Some justifications for the plan might include:

• need to maintain urban forest benefits
• benefit/cost relationships that show the positive contributions of a well-managed urban forest
• need to address community-specific challenges (damage from storms, fires, pest/disease invasions)
• more efficient use of available funding and personnel
• improved ability to compete for future outside grant funding

There might be organizational reasons why it would be especially advantageous to develop or revise a plan at this time. For example:

• grant funding is available
• change in administration or personnel
• a plan is needed to ensure urban forest program continuity in the face of pending retirements.

Where?

Where will the geographical limits be?
What area will the plan cover?

What?

What information is needed? 
What portions of the urban forest will be addressed (scope)? Street, park, facility trees, etc.

As you gather support for developing your UFMP, you will need to know what is likely to be approved and funded.

The scope of the plan identifies which trees will be managed. They might include:

• trees planted in urbanized settings (most trees in developed areas)
• retained native trees in urbanized settings
• native trees in relatively undisturbed settings (open space lands)

Will you be planning for trees on private residential, commercial, or urban-agricultural lands? (Trees growing on private lands actually compose the majority of urban forests.)
Are you planning for publicly owned trees, such as street, facility, or park trees?
Are you planning for the entire urban forest: public and privately owned trees within an urban area including trees along streets and in yards, as well as stands of remnant forests?
Does your plan include open space trees in wildland-urban interface, in wildland parks, along waterways, wildlife corridors?

Street trees are one of the most visible portions of the urban forest and have a great impact in terms of shading heat-absorbing surfaces and reducing urban heat island temperatures. Understanding the infrastructure conflicts, conditions, and special management needs of street trees is important for an urban forest management plan.

Facility trees are around buildings and other built facilities. Facility trees play an important role in shading structures and reducing energy use for cooling. Are there unique management or maintenance issues of facility trees that need to be addressed?

Park trees are usually managed by cities, counties, or park districts. Trees in “park–like” settings, such as open areas of campuses, botanical gardens, and other private or public locations will have site-specific needs.

Open space trees, such as in the wildland-urban interface, wildland parks, waterways, and wildlife corridors need to be assessed for native species and invasive, exotic plants and trees, such as Brazilian or Peruvian pepper trees. The needs and management will depend on the composition of the native plant community, what species are present, and land use goals.