IMPLEMENTING THE URBAN FORESTRY MANAGEMENT PLAN TREE INVENTORY

To get a better sense of how many trees there are in Los Angeles, Blumenfield worked with Tree People and Controller Galperin to kick off a tree inventory to map every tree in the City. As Chair of the Public Works Committee, Blumenfield understands trees are one of the most undervalued infrastructure elements in the City of Los Angeles. While trees sometimes cost the city millions of dollars in infrastructure damage and lawsuits, they also save the city millions through reduced heat island effects and community development. Together with Director Adel Hagekhalil and the Bureau of Street Services leadership team, Blumenfield has been working toward bringing these services into the 21st century. The Bureau of Street Services' Urban Forestry Division is responsible for maintaining street trees, but they have done so without an accurate inventory and still uses outdated paper logs to track its trimming and maintenance work. In an effort to modernize the inventory, Controller Galperin released a report stating the City should create an online street inventory and implement a centralized electronic management system to prioritize which trees need to be trimmed first and foremost. The City is underway on creating this report and you can learn all about their progress here.