The Urban Forest Master Plan bill will require the Parks Department to create a detailed plan which would protect and increase the City’s urban forest. It will increase tree and vegetation cover across the City and requires the establishment of goals to expand and protect the urban forest.
The plan would be required to be updated every five years. It will also require the City to collect LIDaR data to monitor the effectiveness of the plan. It establishes an overall goal at expanding the cover provided by the city’s urban forest to 30% of land within the city. This is part of a package of legislation with Council Member Gale Brewer and Parks Committee Chair Shekar Krishnan to increase New York City’s tree canopy.