2019-2024 (April) Many known tree removals are missing from this dataset, so this will certainly be an undercount. Removals will be added when available. Locations are approximations based on addresses and locations given. Some trees were damaged in storms, but they comprise a small minority.
I have a new project Im working on, the systematic deforestation of Port Huron. Ive mapped it and it doesn't look good.
The City of Port Huron has less than 25% tree canopy, when the SEMCOG regional goal is 40%. Some areas have as low as 12% coverage. In the past 5 years, with what Im calling a dramatic undercount, the city has removed over 450 trees, from parks and right of ways, I mapped them.
In The City of Sterling Heights they have identified their Tree Canopy as one of their top priorities, sitting at 19% and pointing to that same regional goal of 40% canopy, they plan to plant 15,000 street trees over the next 5 years. That’s 15x the commitment in half the time compared to the city of Port Huron.
The City of Port Huron has committed to plant 1000 trees over the next decade, but that's still too little too late and comes after decades of no replanting, as stated in a FOIA request I received earlier this week.
What concerns me with this tree planting blitz, is the lack of long term care that is needed for these newly planted trees. New trees need lots of water, and are an expensive investment to just let die in the median. Ann Arbor found this out the hard way. Two thirds of the trees they have planted are in poor condition.
Data is from the SEMCOG Green Dashboard. City of Port Huron has a 24.9% tree canopy on average, with a target of 40%. Some tracts, such as the Downtown Port Huron tract is as low as 12% tree canopy.
Our forestry department is in great need of new management, because the data looks absolutely abysmal. I am unsure what the occupational mandate even is for the head of forestry, but it aint maintaining or building out our tree canopy.