Process Overview and Accomplishments
King Conservation District and their Urban Forestry Working Group are proud to announce that they will be providing $300,000 worth of technical assistance and management support to seven urban forestry projects beginning in 2022. In addition, five projects from previous years will continue to be supported in 2022. The new projects address a range of priorities and urban forest health concerns from expanding tree planting in private yards to piloting a municipal carbon credit certification program.
The project selection process was not run in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Funds were moved forward into the 2021 process.
Selected Projects
Beaux Arts – Street Tree Inventory
Working with Tree Solutions, the Village of Beaux Arts will develop a tree inventory with work tracking system. Individual street trees will be tagged, mapped, and assessed for health and potential hazards. The cost includes maintenance of the database for three years.
Burien – Volunteer Program Coordinator and Crew Stipends
In an effort to expand Burien’s park stewardship program to three additional parks, KCD will hire a consultant to manage the City’s volunteer stewardship program part time for two years – with an option to extend for a third year. In addition, the City of Burien has requested support for their volunteer work crews. Traditionally, park stewards are unpaid volunteers which often provides a barrier to entry to lower income teens and adults who could use this opportunity as an entrée to green careers. KCD will fund stipends for volunteers.
Kenmore and Kirkland – Yard Tree Giveaways
Kenmore and Kirkland have requested support to organize yard tree giveaways. KCD will purchase the trees, develop educational and promotional materials to be translated into Spanish and Chinese, and provide support during the event. Approximately 200 native trees per municipality will be distributed to homeowners, HOAs, and public housing developments.
Tukwila – Urban Forest Carbon Credit and Impact Certification Pilot Program
With the support of KCD, the City of Tukwila is seeking to advance canopy coverage targets and Equity Policy goals by utilizing innovative funding opportunities through City Forest Credits, a nonprofit carbon registry and impact certification organization that certifies and markets urban forest projects to potential funders. KCD will hire a consultant part time for two years – with an option to extend for a third year – to do a City urban forest needs assessment and create a project “look book.”
Shoreline – Trees for Rail Support
Per KCD’s contract with Sound Transit and the City of Shoreline regarding the Trees for Rail project, a unique program planting trees and shrubs on properties affected by the light rail extension, urban forest funding will be set aside for any contingency needs or budget overage.
North Bend, Redmond, Kenmore, Kirkland, and Tukwila – PlanIt Geo Tree Canopy Assessment
PlanIT Geo (PG) will work with King Conservation District to map current tree canopy and possible planting areas in Kenmore, North Bend, Redmond, and Tukwila, quantify changes in canopy in Kenmore and Tukwila, and prioritize planting areas based on diversity and equity concerns in Kirkland. The results and metrics will then be analyzed for a variety of geographies to produce reports, tools, and data that influence planning, community development, and forest management.
Urban Forestry Initiative Working Group Participants
| Ellen Arnstein | KCD Staff | |
| Jeff Boyce | forester | |
| Patrick Boyd | Medina | small city |
| Kelli Curtis | City of Kirkland | Sound Cities Association |
| Suzanne Feeney (for Xavier Wurtelle) |
Living Well Kent | NGO (resigned) |
| Kristi McClelland | private landowner | (resigned) |
| Mark Phillips | Lake Forest Park | Sound Cities Association |
| Paris Yates | City of Seattle | large city |