STATE OF CALIFORNIA NATURAL RESOURCES AGENCY Gavin Newsom, Governor “The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection serves and safeguards the people and protects the property and resources of California.”
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY AND FIRE PROTECTION
P.O. Box 944246
SACRAMENTO, CA 94244 -2460
(916) 653-7772
Website: www.fire.ca.gov
December 6, 2021
Helen Chapman, Policy and Legislative Advisor
Office of Sergio Jimenez | City of San José, District 2 200 E. Santa Clara St. T-18 | San José, CA 95113
Dear Helen Chapman,
Per your request I am offering my perspective, as the appointed representative of CAL FIRE, on the San Jose Community Forest Management Plan (CFMP). I am not going to provide a comprehensive list of omissions or suggested corrections because it would be counterproductive to the significant efforts invested thus far. CAL FIRE has previously provided corrections pertinent to the Urban and Community Forestry Grant agreement which have been responded to by City staff. I will offer my general impressions and recommendations as City Council considers adoption of the CFMP.
Community input and engagement are important to creation of a viable plan, but even more to its implementation and refinement over time. Establishment of the Community Forest Advisory Committee should be one of the highest priority objectives. This acti on will continue ongoing conversations between stakeholders and the City, concurrent with action on other objectives. The CFMP should be a living document where actions are responsive to addressing issues as quickly as possible, yet adaptive to reality. Stakeholders will always be influential to success.
Interdepartmental coordination and unified policies are needed for urban forestry governance, projects, services and activities, best practices, data analysis, and other subjects. Consistent and transpa rent decisions by qualified professionals should be supported by the best available information. Consider a policy of no net loss of canopy to apply broadly so that progress is made toward canopy cover goals. Maintain accountability by providing annual progress updates about the CFMP.
Partner with entities and organizations that will complement implementation. CAL FIRE is willing to provide technical assistance, impartial assessment, and feedback, as well as grant opportunities (as funding is available). Others have assistance to provide also.
Consider the CFMP a starting point. Work with stakeholders to refine the plan while acting on priority issues. Invest to the extent possible to reverse historic trends of declining canopy cover and inadequate maintenance.
I encourage City Council to adopt the CFMP, direct staff to return with budget and staffing requests, identify future policies and best practices to consider, and establish a recurring dialog with stakeholders. Please contact me if I can assist you,
Walter Passmore, State Urban Forester
CAL FIRE
January 20, 2022
San José Mayor and City Council
City of San José
200 E. Santa Clara Street
San José, CA 95113
Dear Honorable Mayor and City Council:
The Draft Community Forest Management Plan coming before you on January 25 remains shockingly deficient. Despite hundreds of written concerns and conversations with council member offices and city staff, errors and omissions persist, and this draft is not even close to a plan. A front page article in the January 10 Mercury News makes the depth of San Jose’s urban forest crisis painfully clear. Now it’s up to you, the Mayor and Council, to shift course on how San José can better grow, manage, and protect its urban forest.
The draft report could be accepted as an initial study, but first, inconsistencies must be corrected. Then council members can outline what additional information is needed before considering any real plan - particularly data on city tree spending and a substantiated analysis of why the tree canopy is vanishing. Planting trees is important, as always, but it is not the solution. San José must look deep within to stop the bleeding.
Here are three key areas that need improvement:
1. Missing financial data. Increased mitigation fees and revenue from assessment districts are important revenue sources not discussed. In addition, the draft states residents have been responsible for all street tree care since 1951, yet S.J. had a citywide street tree pruning and trimming program until 2008. To consider viable tree management options and offer recommendations, such data is essential.
2. Inadequate scope. The grant from Cal Fire that funded this plan stipulated that it cover 100% of San Jose’s existing and potential tree canopy yet the draft focuses almost exclusively on the 15% or less managed by the city. The remaining 85% is owned privately or by public agencies or districts. There is no discussion or analysis of broader best-practice policies such as a no net loss standard, increasing native trees per the 2040 General Plan, or what policies and laws are needed to curtail removals.
3. Stewardship. Cities with successful urban forest programs have independent Tree Commissions of stakeholders. Staff recommends instead a weak advisory committee appointed and managed internally by DOT, whose primary purpose is roads and transportation. Ideally the tree program should be moved to Environmental Services or another department with a compatible mission. Even then, a Tree Commission with a direct line to Council is the way to provide guardianship for our trees because it allows for unbiased review and recommendations around city policies, programs, and spending.
Coalition to Advance Urban Forestry
In San José
We know you understand the cooling power of mature trees as the climate warms, but you need more and better information to make educated choices on how to turn the tide that is destroying our trees. Please seek that information, and don’t move forward with a plan until you have it.
Sincerely,
Coalition to Advance Urban Forestry in San José
Linda J. LeZotte
Director, Valley Water and Former City of San José Councilmember
Vicki Moore
Chair, Santa Clara County Planning Commission
Barbara Marshman
San Jose Mercury News Former Editorial Page Editor
Rita Norton
Former Chair, SCVWD Environmental Advisory Committee
Bob Levy
Vice-Chair, Santa Clara County Planning Commission; former San Jose Planning Commissioner
Cindy Blain
Executive Director, California ReLeaf
Michelle Yesney
Former San José Planning Commission; Former President, Greenbelt Alliance
Irma Balderas/Christina Egan
Our City Forest Board of Directors Chair/Director
Rhonda Berry
President & CEO, Our City Forest
Margot Sidener
Chief Executive Officer, Breathe California
Justin Wang
Advocacy Manager, Greenbelt Alliance
Susan Butler-Graham
Team Coordinator, Mothers Out Front
Shani Kleinhaus
Environmental Advocate, Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
Linda Ruthruff
Conservation Chair, California Native Plant Society
Gladwyn d’Souza
Chair, Conservation Committee, Loma Prieta Chapter, Sierra Club
Fernando R. Zazueta
La Raza Historical Society of Santa Clara Valley
Deb Kramer
Executive Director, Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful
Terry Trumbull,
Retired Professor, San José State University
Elizabeth Sarmiento
Board of Directors, Smart Yards Education
Peri Plantenberg
Coordinator, Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action
Jennifer Thompson
Executive Director, Sustainable Silicon Valley
33 Las Colinas Lane, San Jose, CA 95119 | 408.224.7476 T | 408.224.7548 F | openspaceauthority.org
Andrea Mackenzie, General Manager
Alex Kennett, District 1
Mike Flaugher, District 2
Helen Chapman, District 3
Dorsey Moore, District 4
Shay Franco-Clausen, District 5
Mike Potter, District 6
Kalvin Gill, District 7
January 24, 2022
Mayor Sam Liccardo,
San Jose City Councilmembers
City Council Meeting Portal
Via email
Re: Support Approval of Community Forest Management Plan, Agenda Item 5.2
Dear Mr. Mayor, Councilmembers:
On behalf of the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (Open Space Authority), I am writing to express support for approval of the City of San José Community Forest Management Plan (CFMP, or Plan), which will be considered on January 25, 2022, and also express support for the memo drafted by Mayor Liccardo and Councilmembers Carrasco, Esparza, Davis and Cohen, dated January 21, 2022.
The Open Space Authority is a public, independent special district created by the California State Legislature in 1993 to conserve the natural environment, support agriculture, and connect people to nature by protecting open spaces, natural areas, and working farms and ranches for future generations.
Having a comprehensive, forward-looking plan to maintain and expand San Jose’s urban forest is extremely important. We are grateful to City leadership, staff, consultants, and stakeholders for the extensive work that has gone into development of the CFMP and the associated Strategic Workplan. We especially applaud the analysis of the current urban tree canopy and emphasis in the Plan to bring greater tree canopy equity to City residents, especially communities of color, that suffer disproportionate impacts from urban heat island effects.
We strongly agree with Key Findings in the Memorandum from Director Ristow dated November 29, 2021 that emphasize the need for “immediate action” to reverse the trend of declining canopy cover. Improved management of and prevention of further loss of our current urban forest - especially the existing mature trees - is of primary importance, first and foremost as an equity issue as we discussed above, though also as the “most cost effective and efficient way to maintain canopy cover” that is mentioned in the Memorandum. Connecting this to the second Key Finding regarding limited financial and human resources, we would be in strong support for significant allocation of financial resources in next year’s budget – on the order of the tens of millions of dollars mentioned in the Memorandum - to facilitate City stewardship of all trees in the public realm, since private property owners, often with very constrained financial resources themselves, may not be in a position to prioritize tree maintenance. As pointed out in a recent San Jose Spotlight article on the CFMP , trees give back to the
community many times more financial value than what is invested to plant and care for them.
We are encouraged by greater treatment in the Plan regarding support for habitat and biodiversity goals in the selection of tree species. In particular, we note inclusion - in the Strategic Workplan page 143, “Standardize and Improve Planning and Development” Strategy 2d - of local urban forestry and urban biodiversity efforts in which the Open Space Authority has been involved: the “Integrating Planning with Nature ” report in partnership with San
Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) and SPUR, which brings in expertise from multiple sectors to provide Santa Clara Valley-focused recommendations for urban greening benefits, including urban forestry, and the Urban Ecological Planning Guide developed in partnership with SFEI, that provides recommendations for biologically interconnected
1/25/22, 9:10 AM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
https://outlook.office365.com/mail/ inbox/id/AAQkADUxOWI4ZjE3LTRkNDEtNGUzMS04MjAwLTIzNzdiYTdkMjc5NAAQA… 2/3 Dear Mayor Liccardo, Vice Mayor Jones, and Councilmembers Jimenez, Peralez, Cohen, Carrasco, Davis, Esparza, Arenas, Foley, and Mahan,
Mother Out Front Silicon Valley urge you to protect our climate and cool our city by voting no on the incomplete and deficient Draft Community Fore t Management Plan until ignificant correction and change are made and there i a clear path forward for the city to partner with key takeholder
Our city’s dwindling and unbalanced tree canopy can only be addressed if all the facts are considered and all key stakeholders have meaningful input into the plan. There are a number of questions that must be answered in order to make an effective plan. Why are the city’s trees disappearing? Where are funds for tree maintenance coming from? How do other cities with exemplary urban forestry plans successfully manage their trees? Who will coordinate tree planning, planting, maintenance, and enforcement between all the different departments? Who has been planning, planting, and maintaining the majority of the trees in the past decade? Why have key stakeholders such as Our City Forest not been consulted in the development of this plan?
1/25/22, 9:10 AM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
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We cannot keep planting tree without a plan to care for them, becau e re ident will be burdened with the co t of maintenance or the ri k from unhealthy tree , the tree will not urvive, and the city will not reach it canopy goal It’ al o vital that equity be centered in thi plan o that we can focu refore tation in the di trict with the lea t amount of tree canopy to help protect them from the danger of the urban heat i land effect
We need a carefully crafted, coordinated plan for our urban forest and ideally, it should be integrated into the Climate Smart San Jose plan. Please correct this Plan before approving it.
Sincerely,
Susan Butler-Graham
Team Coordinator
Mothers Out Front Silicon Valley
Pronoun he/her/ella
"Climate justice is making sure that everyone has an equal opportunity for a healthy and safe life." -Dr. Ayana Elizabeth John on
“The iron law of climate change i that the le you did to cau e it, the ooner you feel it effect Tho e who poured the most carbon into the air will be dead before its effects are fully felt.” -Bill McKibben