St. Louis canopy averages 27% citywide but drops below 20% in north-side neighborhoods like Wells-Goodfellow and Hyde Park. The Forestry Division and Climate Action Plan target equity-focused planting funded by federal Inflation Reduction Act dollars.
The 2017 Climate Action Plan and a 2022 Urban Forest Master Plan flagged historical redlining as the driver of canopy disparity. The Forestry Division uses an equity-priority planting list, allocating IRA Urban & Community Forestry grant funds (announced 2023-2024) to plant several thousand trees in low-canopy ZIP codes. Forest ReLeaf, a nonprofit partner, supplies stock. Maintenance years 1-3 are city-funded, after which the abutting property owner inherits routine watering. The program does not impose private tree mandates but channels public investment.
Removing a recently planted equity tree without permit triggers Title XX replacement cost recovery; vandalism on city plantings is prosecutable as property damage.
St. Louis, MO
St. Louis adopted a Climate Action & Adaptation Plan in 2017 and joined the Global Covenant of Mayors. The Board of Aldermen has issued climate-emergency res...
St. Louis, MO
Title XX places street trees in the public right-of-way under the Forestry Division. Property owners abut but do not own parkway trees; planting, pruning, an...
See how St. Louis's urban forest equity rules stack up against other locations.
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