The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Adopts New Tree Canopy Goals

Between 2014 and 2018, the District lost nearly 500 acres of tree canopy — about 400 football fields’ worth. That trend has continued in recent years, not just in D.C. but across the DMV, according to a recent report from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG). 

In response, the regional body voted earlier this month to adopt a new goal: maintaining tree canopy coverage of at least 50% across the metropolitan Washington region. The April 10 resolution notes that urban trees can cool down neighborhoods, improve air quality and pull emissions that cause climate change out of the air — all of which also helps reduce health inequalities and enable the DMV to meet climate goals. 

“The 50% goal is a floor, not a ceiling,” said Brian M. LeCouteur, COG’s principal environmental planner. “What we are trying to do is wake everybody up and have them realize ‘hey, we are losing canopy really fast.’”

LeCouteur co-edited the report COG released the same day as the vote, titled “Conserving Trees and Forests in Metropolitan Washington.” The 103-page document details tree canopy loss data and aims to provide a roadmap for jurisdictions in growing and maintaining tree coverage. 

The document includes three goals for achieving the broader regional target:

1. Smaller Scale Target Goal: Identify mature canopy coverage levels that are associated with 18 general classes of land use categories encountered in the COG region. 
2. Intermediate Goal: Provide help for communities to identify tree canopy goals for watersheds, planning districts and census tracts of towns and smaller cities.
3. Overarching Goal: Ensure at least 50% tree canopy coverage for the entire region through 2050.

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments is an independent, nonprofit organization that works with local leaders to address issues across the DMV. In February 2019, COG launched the Regional Tree Canopy Subcommittee (RTCS), which worked with local agencies to develop the “Conserving Trees” report. 

Generally, RTCS creates the plan for the Washington area to protect, manage and expand its forested regions and is responsible for encouraging member jurisdictions to increase their tree canopy coverage.

What’s In the New Report

In the latest report, COG officials documented the loss of tree canopy throughout the Metropolitan Washington area. Overall, the majority of the region is suffering from a large loss of tree canopy — going from 51.3% of land covered by trees in 2014 to 49.6% today. While the percentage change might seem small, it amounts to more than 4,000 acres of tree canopy lost every year.

Most of that loss stems from increasing urbanization and development. Other potential factors in tree canopy loss include forestry, shifting agriculture and commodity-driven forestation.  

Currently, the District of Columbia has about 37% tree canopy coverage. The COG report explains that not all jurisdictions will have the same goals — the 50% target is for the region overall, but each locality will differ based on its unique challenges and opportunities for planting trees and maintaining them. 

In “Conserving Trees and Forests in Metropolitan Washington,” MWCOG offers a 10-step plan for its members to create achievable tree canopy goals. The steps include:

1. Identify Tree Canopy Baseline
2. Identify Tree Canopy gain/Loss Trends
3. Estimate the Level of Services and Benefits Provided by Your Trees and Forests
4. Identify Areas of Existing Tree Canopy That Are Currently Protected
5. Forecasting Post-Development Canopy Levels
6. Identify Potential Areas to Plant Trees
7. Identify a Potential Canopy Goal
8. Integrating Tree Canopy Goals
9. Gaining Local Government Support of the Tree Canopy Goal:
10. Public Engagement – Creating a Sense of Ownership in the Community

The newly adopted COG resolution urges member jurisdictions to use the report and other resources from the Regional Tree Canopy Subcommittee. 

“The next step in this is what’s called ‘a forest action plan,’ and that’s the next thing that our committee needs to work on,” said LeCouteur.

The Importance of Tree Canopies

Urban tree canopy refers to the parts of the city that are shaded by the trees. Tree canopies provide urban areas with various public health, social, environmental and economic benefits. Trees provide clean air, reduce the overall concentration of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, conserve energy, serve as a habitat for wildlife, provide water retention and attract new residents, industry, and commercial activity.

The loss of tree canopies poses a direct threat to all local wildlife, air quality and watersheds. It can also harm the physical health of neighborhood communities in cities. Research from local scientists at the Science Museum of Virginia shows that neighborhoods that lack tree coverage suffer from heat islands, which are areas that experience higher temperatures from others. 

Heat islands have been proven to correlate to heat-related hospital visits and have been acknowledged to be concentrated in formerly redlined areas, like Washington, D.C. The loss of tree canopies in the Metropolitan area has raised environmental justice concerns due to the direct threats it poses to water bodies, such as the Anacostia Watershed, and its contribution to the decline of public health.

“My hope is that the COG press release [about the resolution] builds additional awareness,” the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s urban restoration manager, Ann Jurczyk, said. 

“Additional awareness would help us at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to gain a deeper and broader support for tree preservation and conservation statutes,” Jurczyk explained.