Rooted in Community: Urban Forest Strategic Plan

Over the last year, Forestry staff have been working closely with a consultant to produce the City’s first ever Urban Forest Strategic Plan.

This Urban Forest Strategic Plan is a comprehensive plan for the management, protection, and improvement of Fort Collins’ urban forest. It summarizes the state of the city’s urban forest and the City of Fort Collins Forestry Division’s program. Then, it provides seven recommendations with tiered actions that the City of Fort Collins and its partners can take to ensure that the urban forest remains healthy and vibrant into the future.

The plan seeks to establish a 20-year vision for managing the urban forest by answering a series of questions about Fort Collins’ present and future canopy.

Themes of the Urban Forest Strategic Plan

This Urban Forest Strategic Plan summarizes the state of Fort Collins’ urban forest and outlines a vision for the next 20 years to:

• Build resilience & wellbeing of people and trees.
• Sustainably grow the Forestry Division.
• Expand the community’s appreciation for trees.

About the Forestry Division

The primary objectives of the Forestry Division are to sustain a safe, healthy, and resilient urban forest. Trees in Fort Collins are recognized as a vital part of city infrastructure that provide health, social, environmental and economic benefits for all present and future people who live, work, and visit Fort Collins. The Forestry Team monitors and maintains close to 60,000 trees on public property and partners and guides City policy on managing and protecting an estimated 1/2 million trees throughout Fort Collins.