by Meghan Fenwick
Colin Beazley, president of the York Neighborhood Association (YNA) (1), moved to Bellingham in 2021. While remodeling his home on Humboldt Street, contractors stripped walls to reveal a piece of Bellingham’s history: a solid wood foundation, likely logged in the early 1900s just down the road.
Early settlers of present-day Bellingham saw value in the dense old-growth forests and established a lumber mill at Whatcom Falls in 1853. York, being one of Bellingham’s oldest neighborhoods, housed many loggers and craftsmen.
Rapid clear-cutting of trees eventually slowed, spurred by laws like the Forest Reserve Act of 1891 and Washington’s Forest Practice Act of 1946. Since then, timber harvests have significantly dropped and management practices transformed. Along the way, the value of trees in both rural and urban areas became commonly accepted.
“Access to nature is so essential to our quality of life in the city where we live,” said Joanna Nelson de Flores, King County’s urban forest program manager. “The urban forest is where most of the population lives, and it’s really essential to help fight climate change.”
chart courtesy of Whatcom Million Trees Project
The Whatcom Million Trees Project draws canopy coverage comparisons between several Pacific Northwest cities in its white paper report. Bellevue matches Bellingham’s 40 percent with a larger population density
Today, many cities in the Evergreen State continue to balance proper stewardship and conservation of natural resources with competing goals and interests. For Bellingham, expected urban growth and continued need for affordable housing make retaining and increasing trees complex.
This April, the City of Bellingham took a major step toward completing a comprehensive plan to address urban forestry needs by releasing the Urban Forestry Management Draft Plan (2). City staff and Diamond Head Consulting, under direction from the city council, outlined a plan to increase canopy coverage from 40 to 45 percent by 2050.
Bellingham’s urban forest includes all trees and associated vegetation within city limits. Each tree, whether growing along city streets, in a parking lot or hosting a tire swing in your backyard, benefits the community at large. Trees alleviate climate change impacts by improving air quality, mitigating flooding, sequestering carbon and providing shade. Beyond their aesthetic value, trees have been found to reduce stress, improve wellness, and even provide fruit and nuts to help combat food insecurity.
In 2021, city staff and Diamond Head Consulting published an assessment of Bellingham’s current tree canopy and documented its change over time, dating back to 2006 (3). A combination of Lidar and aerial imagery revealed area-specific canopy coverage and height of trees within city limits. They found that canopy coverage had remained relatively stagnant over the decade. While various tree species grow at different rates, an estimated 6 percent of trees are 80 years or older and 115 feet or taller.
“We have estimated some of the benefits that go into an urban forest, and just a fraction of those benefits is in the order of $6.3 million per year,” said Analiese Burns, habitat and restoration manager of public works.
chart courtesy of City of Bellingham Urban Forestry Management Plan
During the research and development process of Bellingham’s Urban
Forestry Management Plan, city staff has estimated the city would save
over $6 million annually while reaching canopy coverage goals. Trees
save money primarily by mitigating climate-change impacts like flooding, heatwaves and pollution.
Throughout April and May, city and Diamond Head Consulting staff garnered community feedback through council meetings, webinars and an online survey. The city expects final adoption of the updated version of the plan to come late fall or early winter, Director of Public Works Eric Johnston said in a presentation to the Mayor’s Neighborhood Advisory Committee meeting on May 15.
Long-term strategies like the Comprehensive Plan, the Climate-Action Plan, and the draft plan provide Bellingham roadmaps for progress in community planning and development.
Backyard Trees
Beazley was not surprised to learn that York scored fifth lowest canopy coverage and tree equity score out of 25 Bellingham neighborhoods. YNA has been involved in the draft process, raising concerns about unhealthy or dying trees. The organization is also applying for a Small and Simple grant (4), a city program where neighborhood associations can receive up to $10,000 for neighborhood improvement projects as long as $5,000 is dedicated towards the urban forest.
“I’ve lived in many cities before, and I’ve never seen the civic engagement from the neighborhoods be as strong as it is here,” Beazley said.
The tree equity score, established by the nonprofit group American Forest, uses demographics like income, age and race to determine how increased tree canopy benefits communities. Some households are more vulnerable to climate-change impacts, such as the urban heat-island effect, where concentrations of pavement retain heat. During a heatwave, residents who cannot afford air conditioning will benefit more from increased canopy cover and shade.
“Even the representation of neighborhoods through these organizations definitely skews towards those who either have the financial means, the time, or the access to information to get involved,” said Beazley. “So I do think it’s important that we continue to reach out, and the city is trying to do that.”
The draft plan suggests prioritizing areas with low tree equity scores. Private lands represent some of the most room for improvement. To reach the 45 percent goal by 2050, about 7,500 trees must be voluntarily planted or naturally regenerated annually, according to the draft plan. This estimate factors in expected loss from development and tree-mortality rates.
Neighborhoods like York and Lettered Streets have higher populations and primarily residential land uses. This means that, to improve both tree canopy and tree equity, individual landowners hold some responsibility.
Current city code establishes some regulations for new developments regarding landscaping and tree maintenance. For example, one tree must be planted for every 10 parking spaces, generally around the lot’s perimeter. A permit is required to plant, prune or remove street trees, including trees on sidewalks, rights-of-way and along the roadside.
Specific changes to code or policy are not outlined in the draft plan. Much like the Climate-Action or Comprehensive plans, this plan will serve as a general roadmap rather than a rulebook. More than 70 actions are identified to encourage or enforce the retention or increase of trees on private property. Incentives or regulations to come will follow their own public process.
“At a certain point, the rubber will hit the road and there will be requirements that might affect individual developments,” said Councilmember Michael Lilliquist in a May 6 council meeting. “There will be a complex and indirect relationship between these policy goals, the positive incentives to increase that goal, and some regulations to help achieve that goal.”
Governing Forests
Bellingham has already adopted code changes to improve the urban forest outside of the continued development of the plan. On May 20, the city council adopted an emergency landmark tree ordinance (5), protecting some of the city’s most significant trees. These include trees that are 36 inches in diameter or larger, have cultural or historical significance or serve as crucial wildlife habitat. Removing eligible trees results in a minimum $800 and maximum $5,000 fine.
While a landmark ordinance was already in development and suggested in the draft plan, the rule’s emergency status came from the community response following the plan’s release. Local arborist companies alerted city staff of an increased volume of requests for tree removals.
The Whatcom Million Trees Project (WMTP) (6), a nonprofit organization that began in 2021 with the goal to plant and protect a million trees in Whatcom County, says that the ordinance needs more work. Other cities, like Burien, Olympia and Bainbridge Island, consider the threshold for a landmark tree to be 30 or even 20 inches in diameter, or establish species-specific diameters.
Michael Feerer, executive director of the Whatcom Million Trees Project, finds the anticipation of broad-stroked tree policies misinformed.
“At the home level, that’s kind of a value choice that each person has to make,” Feerer said. “None of the tree retention rules in any other cities say you can’t remove a tree for no reason at all. Usually there’s a threshold, like you can remove up to like 500 square feet of tree canopy for a reason not related to a development.”
Trees can compete for space with a number of other priorities for a single-family residential property, such as garden space, open space, new structures or even a scenic view. Nuisance or hazard trees can threaten the safety of residents, particularly in high-density areas where a nearby tree branch can fall on a home. Fruit trees that aren’t properly maintained can attract rodents.
WMTP researched and analyzed other cities’ urban forestry practices and made its own edits and suggestions for Bellingham in its white paper report (7). These include requiring local tree service providers to register through the city for a small fee, prioritizing tree plantings and mature tree retention in neighborhoods at higher risk for urban heat island effects or flooding, and adding tree canopy targets for specific land uses.
“Most other Washington coastal cities have had urban forest plans for years, so Bellingham is kind of catching up with this,” Feerer said. “Which is good, I’m glad they’re doing that. But one advantage of that is that we’ve got a lot of good examples all around us of urban forest plans that we can draw from. It’s not like we have to reinvent the wheel.”
WMTP made recent headlines while protesting against a housing development on Meridian Street near the Bellingham Golf and Country Club. About 50 people dressed in green attended a hearing examiner’s meeting at city hall in March, and over 1,700 signed a petition to halt development plans. According to Feerer, the removal of eight out of 67 units would save more than a third of over 300 mature trees scheduled to come down for the townhomes.
On April 8, Hearing Examiner Sharon Rice approved the plan for AVT Consulting, with several stipulations including the replacement planting of almost 500 trees in and around the property.
WMPT expressed concern over mature-tree retention in response to the draft plan. While the plan does not outline specific policies, it does recognize the economic, environmental and social benefit of mature trees as opposed to new saplings. The plan also addresses the city’s current successes and challenges in protecting existing trees. Pages 64 to 71 provide an assessment of Bellingham’s current practices compared to best practices.
“There’s a lot of opportunities to add tree canopy,” Feerer said. “New little trees, though, won’t really kick into gear for 15 or 20 years before they start providing all the services that a mature tree does. So, while new trees are a good investment in the future green infrastructure, it’s not something that helps our community right now.”
Balancing Priorities
This spring, King County collaborated with environmental consulting company Facet to produce the Guide to Developing Effective Urban Tree Regulations on Private Property (8). The team analyzed tree codes within the county’s 40 jurisdictions, including unincorporated areas, and ranked them based on clarity, effectiveness and scientific accuracy.
The impetus of this project began as King County developed and passed their 30-Year Forest Plan (9), where one of the seven goals was to improve the urban forest. The county now hosts quarterly urban forestry forums where representatives from all municipalities are invited to share concerns and strategies.
“At the beginning, they launched a survey asking folks what are the most pressing topics, challenges and things that you’re dealing with that we could work together on,” said Joanna Nelson de Flores, King County’s urban forestry program manager. “One of the things that surfaced was the need for guidance and shared best management practices around tree code and tree ordinances.”
Nelson de Flores was hired in 2023 when the county opened up funds to establish an urban forestry program. After receiving a grant from Washington’s Department of Natural Resources Urban and Community Forestry Program, the team decided to hone in on residential properties as one of the most challenging aspects.
“It’s about having a code that helps you reach your canopy goals that is also flexible and accommodating,” Nelson de Flores said. “We do need housing, especially affordable housing. I think you need to consider that and make sure that your code achieves both. It’s easier said than done, and you’re probably not going to please all of the people all the time, but I think there can be a good compromise there.”
In the guide, level-five jurisdictions have the most comprehensive tree codes, including Seattle, Renton and Kirkland. These were identified to have above-and-beyond tree protections, including incentive programs, retention and replacement requirements, and enforcement.
The City of Burien scored high marks in this analysis. For tree removals on residential properties without development, one tree can be cut down per calendar year. With development, Burien citizens are required to plant replacement trees with minimum size standards. Certain exemptions qualify for a fee-in-lieu, where developers will pay all the associated costs of planting a new tree to contribute to future forestry goals.
The draft plan compares Bellingham’s current canopy coverage to several other cities, including Seattle, Kent and Sammamish. Each city has their own challenges, however. Population size and density, land area and usage, growth patterns and demands and resources can all impact the ability to increase canopy coverage to a given target. In 2021, Seattle’s canopy coverage was about 28 percent.
One of Bellingham’s largest priorities is to increase affordable housing, enforced by the state Legislature through HB 1220 (10) and guided by the comprehensive plan. Bellingham is expected to add approximately 17,000 housing units across all income levels over the next 20 years according to Blake Lyon, director of Bellingham’s planning and community development department. This amounts to roughly 850 per year. From 2016-2020, only about 640 units were developed on average per year.
The city is exploring strategies to incentivize and accommodate for additional development and trees, such as reducing on-site parking and open space requirements.
“We’re not trying to pit trees against housing,” Lyon said. “It’s about trying to find the balance and mesh those things together, and really try to figure out what we can do in an appropriate and meaningful way.”
Though the structured community-comment phase is over, city staff will continue to review feedback submitted by email. While the team continues to edit the draft plan, residents interested in improving their local forests can explore the city’s community tree program page (11), complete with a tree-planting guide and information on upcoming tree giveaways.
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Meghan Fenwick is a graduate of WesternWashington University who recently earned her degree in environmental journalism.
References:
- https://www.yorkneighborhood.org/
- https://cob.org/services/planning/environmental/ufmp
- https://cob.org/wp-content/uploads/210823-Bellingham-Canopy-and-Forest-Structure-Report-1acd.pdf
- https://cob.org/services/planning/neighborhoods/grants-funding
- https://cob.org/services/environment/trees/tree-protection
- https://whatcommilliontrees.org/
- https://whatcommilliontrees.org bellingham-urbanforest- plan/
- https://your.kingcounty.gov/dnrp/library/2024/kcr3648/kcr3648.pdf
- https://kingcounty.gov/legacy/services/environment/waterand-land/forestry/forest-policy/30-year-forest-plan.aspx
- https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?Year=2021&BillNumber=1220
- https://cob.org/services/environment/trees
