Urban Forest Management Plan
Toolkit

Developing an urban forest management plan is a demanding task. It requires input from many people and data sources, thoughtful analysis, vision, good organizational and writing skills, and time. Urban forest management plans are usually developed through the collaborative efforts of multiple staff members and consultants. A member of the organization developing the plan normally serves as project manager and provides overall project coordination. An important part of developing the plan is developing consensus among various stakeholders and interested parties. Plans developed by cities or other public entities require public input, which occurs at various stages of plan development.

This Toolkit steps through plan development in a linear fashion. However, plan development may actually require a more looping, iterative process. New issues may be identified as the plan is developed that may require additional analysis. Changes or compromises may be needed to obtain support. Resources may limit what can be done. You may need to revise sections of the plan multiple times to account for changes in scope or direction. You can expect that it will take an extended period, at least many months, to complete a plan. Complex plans that involve public hearings and several levels of administrative approval may require one to two years from inception to final approval and implementation.

An overall sequence of steps involved in developing an urban forest management plan is summarized below. The web site sections described below begin after the next page, which describes how to use the UFMP Toolkit web site.

Authorization and scoping

The starting point for most plans is the authorization to develop a plan. The authorization will normally provide a general scope for the plan. Your organization will have to commit to spending the staff time and funds that are needed to develop the plan. These costs are related to the overall scope of the plan. More resources are generally needed to develop a more comprehensive plan.

If you are thinking of developing a plan, "Initial questions: getting to the point of developing a plan" discusses how to initiate this process. Even if you have approval and funding to develop a plan, it may be helpful to review this section of the Toolkit web site. The basic questions covered in this section set the stage for the plan development process.

Develop timeline and assign tasks

Before you begin to develop the plan, you need to determine which tasks need to be completed to develop the plan. This may involve one or more meetings and discussions among the plan development team and other stakeholders. For city and county plans, it is important to involve members of the public in the planning process at this stage. A public advisory committee, and/or representatives of interested organizations can help provide public input throughout the planning process.

An overall process for developing an urban forest plan is described in the "Management Planning Process" section. The UFMP Toolkit web site follows the steps outlined in this process. As you start to develop the plan, you can "fast forward" through the Toolkit to get an overview of the entire plan development process. This can help you develop an overall timeline and assign responsibilities for completing tasks and gathering information needed to complete the plan.

Collect and analyze data

Tools to help you plan and execute data collection and analysis are provided under the heading "What do you have?" You will collect and analyze data to understand the current state of your urban forest and its management. The issues and trends you identify will form the basis for setting goals for your management plan. This information needs to be synthesized and shared with the project team as well as decision makers and other stakeholders that are involved in plan development and approval. The data analysis and summary forms an important part of the draft plan.

Set goals and objectives

Some preliminary goals and objectives may have been developed at the plan scoping stage. Information from the above analyses allows you to make more informed decisions as you set plan goals and objectives. Your vision for the urban forest and your analysis of needs and trends will be used to set goals and objectives for the plan. This part of the process is discussed under "What do you want?" The goals and objectives that are set form the core of your strategic plan for urban forest management.

Select actions and tools

Once goals and objectives have been set, you can select specific actions and tools that are needed to achieve these goals and objectives. These are the nuts and bolts of the plan itself - what you actually plan to do. Some of the tools, such as specific tree care standards, can be included as appendices to the plan. Complex actions, such as developing a tree inventory, may be specified in the plan, but will be developed later. This topic is discussed under "How do you get what you want?"

The goals, objectives, actions and tools make up the strategic plan. This provides the broad picture of what you hope to accomplish and how you plan to do it. You should also determine how to monitor your progress by formulating a monitoring plan.

Plan review

The draft plan is typically circulated to staff and advisory groups for comment. City and county plans are also presented to the public, either as part of a public committee or commission meeting, or in meetings that are more informal. If adequate efforts have been made to inform and get input from the public throughout the plan development process, these public meetings should be uneventful. However, issues may be raised that will need to be addressed in the plan in some way.

Plan approval

The final version of the plan will need to be assembled and presented to the appropriate decision makers for approval. However, plan approval is not your final destination: the plan needs to be implemented to accomplish anything. It is important to develop and get authorizaiton for at least the initial implementation steps when the plan is approved.

Implementation plan

The strategic plan portion of your urban forest management plan lays out the what and how: what needs to be done and how it is going to be accomplished. An implementation plan indicates specifics such as: who will be involved; when actions will be taken; and how much it will cost to execute parts of the plan. The implementation plan may be incorporated as a supplement or appendix to the overall urban forest management plan. Most likely, it will be a separate document. The implementation plan may need to be revised and adjusted on an annual basis to account for changes that develop from year to year.

Not quite done: monitoring

The urban forest management plan should be based on the best information available. However, existing information may have limitations. Situations and conditions can also change over time. Monitoring should be built into the plan and needs to occur as the plan is implemented. By monitoring outcomes, you can tell if the plan is working as expected or if changes are needed. A flexible plan will allow for adaptive changes.