After destructive storms, agencies outline tree losses, recovery plans and $12M IRA grant for planting

A Dec. 4 hearing before the Land Use & Transportation Committee examined the condition of San Francisco's trees after the late-2022/early-2023 storms and discussed cleanup, maintenance plans and long-term canopy goals.

Public Works Director Karla Short reported more than 900 tree or branch failures during the defined storm period and over 3,000 tree-related service requests. Public Works said it is responsible for roughly 125,000 street trees and estimated approximately 650,000 total trees citywide when including trees on other public properties and rights of way. Short described ongoing data cleanup to determine actual tree losses and highlighted the Street Tree SF program (passed in 2016) that targets pruning 12,000 trees annually; staffing and pandemic impacts have left the city on roughly an eight-year pruning cycle.

Short also announced a $12,000,000 federal grant (Inflation Reduction Act) awarded to Public Works to plant 3,500 trees over five years in low-canopy, underserved neighborhoods and noted a separate state grant to plant 250 trees and support workforce development in Tenderloin and SoMa.

Rec & Park noted it manages roughly 131,000 trees on 3,400 acres, estimated losing about 650 trees on parkland in the storms, and submitted a FEMA claim for roughly $2.18M for storm response costs. Rec & Park aims for a 2:1 replacement ratio for trees lost but reported a recent five-year planting ratio closer to 1.9:1 and said storms reduced the 1:1 replacement rate for the past year.

SFPUC, UCSF and the Presidio Trust described localized impacts on watershed lands and campus forests (UCSF reported 350'400 trees lost at Mount Sutro), the need for revegetation plans, and coordination protocols. Friends of the Urban Forest and other community groups outlined planting goals and funding shortfalls: the citywide master plan calls for about 155,000 street trees by 2040, but current resources and program design leave a significant funding gap.

Public commenters urged attention to wildfire fuel reduction in places with low fog drip and reiterated that long-term funding and interagency coordination are required to meet climate and equity goals for canopy expansion.

Next steps: departments will clean and finalize tree-loss data, coordinate replanting plans with federal/state grants and FEMA reimbursement processes, and return with updated plans and budgets. The committee filed the hearing record and requested follow-up reports.