{"id":31399,"date":"2025-11-04T09:34:40","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T17:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/birdsconnectsea.org\/?p=31399"},"modified":"2025-11-24T07:56:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T15:56:02","slug":"executive-order-to-protect-seattles-urban-tree-canopy-on-private-property","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/birdsconnectsea.org\/2025\/11\/04\/executive-order-to-protect-seattles-urban-tree-canopy-on-private-property\/","title":{"rendered":"Executive Order to Protect Seattle\u2019s Urban Tree Canopy on Private Property"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Mature trees on a private lot in Seattle<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Birds Connect Seattle was named as a stakeholder in an Executive Order from Mayor Harrell calling for more incentives to preserve trees on<\/span> private property. That Mayor Harrell prioritized this issue during his reelection campain shows that urban forestry is becoming a voting issue in Seattle.<\/p>\n

Elevating tree protection onto the political agenda has taken years of sustained advocacy by many individuals and organizations. We’re encouraged by this progress as we continue working to protect mature trees, expand our urban forest, and ensure that the benefits of tree canopy are distributed equitably across the city.<\/p>\n

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Why this matters now<\/h3>\n

Seattle is aiming to grow its tree canopy cover to 30% by 2037, but the most recent tree canopy cover assessment<\/a> shows we’re backsliding: Seattle\u2019s tree canopy cover was 28.1 % in 2021, down from 28.6 % in 2016.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The assessment also revealed a troubling equity gap: communities of color and communities with lower incomes not only had less tree cover to begin with, they also lost more tree canopy over that period.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While this new executive order is a step in the right direction, we’ll need much more to reverse tree canopy loss and address the worsening canopy equity conditions, especially in the face of accelerating climate change.<\/p>\n

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What we\u2019re celebrating and what we\u2019re committing to<\/h3>\n

With this executive order in place, we are celebrating:<\/p>\n