City of Charleston’s ReLEAF pilot plants live oaks to cool heat hot spots

Mika Gadsden, director of sustainability for the City of Charleston, told the county committee that ReLEAF is a city-led, data-driven tree-planting pilot designed to fortify canopy and reduce heat-vulnerability hot spots across the city.

"ReLEAF... is just quite basically a tree planting initiative," Gadsden said, adding the program relied on data from a NOAA heat study, the city's street-tree canopy story map and a 2021 ArborPro tree survey to identify priority planting sites. The pilot installed 18 live oaks along Ashley Town Center Drive (near the West Ashley Costco area) and 14 trees at West Ashley Circle.

Gadsden said the project team refined raw GIS and ArborPro data, overlaid heat-study layers and worked with urban-forestry staff and utilities to identify feasible planting locations. She emphasized that some map-identified sites proved infeasible on closer inspection and required adaptation.

The project aims to pair canopy restoration with community engagement: Gadsden said the city would encourage private-property and commercial participation, provide educational support and coordinate with neighboring municipalities and utilities. She described the mayor's support and framed the initiative as one component of a broader push to invest in green infrastructure for heat mitigation, flood resilience and improved neighborhood walkability.

Gadsden closed by saying ReLEAF is still a pilot and the city will continue adapting the approach as it scales.