The City and Canopy Release Urban Forest Resilience and Health Reports

The City and Canopy Release Urban Forest Resilience and Health Reports

Published on February 04, 2026

News Release

For Immediate Release

Joint effort informs future tree canopy preservation both celebrating growth in young trees, and acknowledging decline in older native oaks

PALO ALTO, CA.---The City of Palo Alto and Palo Alto-based community forestry nonprofit Canopy released The Great Oak Count and the annual Young Tree Care Survey, reinforcing a successful model for how cities and community partners can collaborate to grow and steward urban forests. Valuable urban forest data will inform future work plans and tree canopy preservation and regeneration in Palo Alto.

The data reveals that even as many Palo Alto neighborhoods celebrate growth in young plantings, several older and historically treed neighborhoods are showing declines in tree canopy. Together, the two reports illustrate both the fragility and the resilience of Palo Alto's urban forest.

The Great Oak Count, completed in 2025, indicates that some of Palo Alto's most historic neighborhoods are seeing reductions in the number of older native oaks, primarily on private property balanced with improvements in species diversity and climate adaptability across the city. It is one of the only ground-verified oak inventories of its kind in California. The Young Tree Care Survey shows that 77 percent of young trees are in "good" or "excellent" condition and concludes the important combination of continued education, stewardship, and sustained care can help increase canopy and biodiversity citywide.

"The completion of the Great Oak Count is a significant milestone for both the City of Palo Alto's Urban Forest Master Plan and the City's partnership with Canopy," said Peter Gollinger, Urban Forester for the City of Palo Alto. "The data collected from the Great Oak Count and the Young Tree Care Survey will be analyzed and used to inform future efforts by the City to preserve and grow our urban forest."

Building on this foundation of shared data and long-term planning, Canopy emphasized the value partnerships have in ensuring healthy urban forests.

"This is the kind of foundational work that strong urban forestry depends on," said Jean-Paul Renaud, Executive Director of Canopy. "We're proud to have helped produce one of the most comprehensive, community-powered assessments of an urban forest in California, and grateful for the City of Palo Alto's long-term commitment to partnership. These reports don't just document where we are - they help chart where we go next."

Since 2016, Canopy and the City of Palo Alto have partnered through the South Palo Alto Tree Initiative to plant, monitor, and care for thousands of new trees in neighborhoods south of the Oregon Expressway. In that time, Canopy and its volunteer community have planted more than 1,500 trees - the majority of them drought-tolerant or native species adapted to thrive in a warming climate.

Volunteer participation and outreach also expanded, with over 500 households receiving care tips or watering reminders, helping build a citywide culture of stewardship. These collective efforts are reducing young tree mortality and strengthening climate resilience one block at a time.

The City of Palo Alto and Canopy have been partners in stewarding Palo Alto's urban forest since Canopy was created in 1996. Canopy provides support to the City's urban forestry programs and educates and engages residents in learning about the importance of trees and how to care for them. The City's Public Works Department, Urban Forestry Section maintains nearly 66,000 trees of Palo Alto's urban forest. The urban forest consists of all trees in the City both public and private. This includes street trees, park trees, forested park-lands and trees on private property.

More on The Great Oak Count: Study of a Living Legacy

The Great Oak Count grew from a desire to repeat a previous study, the 2001 Oakwell Survey, in order to track trends in the number, species, and distribution of Palo Alto's native oaks. The City's Urban Forest Master Plan included the study as part of its Goals, Policies, and Programs.

Across the city, seven neighborhoods - Barron Park, Professorville, Old Palo Alto, Crescent Park, Charleston Meadows, Downtown, and the Palo Alto High School area - have each seen a reduction in the total number of their native oaks. The declines range from 4 percent in the Palo Alto High School area to more than 35 percent in Professorville, with Old Palo Alto and Crescent Park each down by roughly a quarter. Even Barron Park, long recognized for its strong native oak presence, saw a 15 percent decline.

Data from the tree tracking tool TreePlotter shows canopy cover reductions of 7 to 11 percent in these same neighborhoods from 2020 to 2022. Further analysis is needed to determine the exact causes of the decline, but it is possible that the loss of mature oaks is a contributing factor.

"Trees are as fundamental to a city's health and safety as clean drinking water, functioning traffic lights, and emergency services," Renaud said. "They cool our streets, protect our lungs, and anchor our neighborhoods against climate change. Investing in trees is investing in the most visible form of public infrastructure we have."

Despite reductions in canopy, The Great Oak Count also revealed reasons for optimism, offering that Palo Alto's overall native oak population grew by more than 2000 oaks, a 22 percent increase since the 2001 Oakwell Survey. Numbers of Valley Oaks increased by 39 percent, Black Oaks by 400 percent, and Blue Oaks by more than 3,000 percent, dramatically improving species diversity and climate adaptability across the city. Native oaks on commercial and public lands rose from 18 percent to 24 percent, while the number of oaks planted as street trees increased fivefold, from 341 to more than 1,700 - proof that re-oaking principles are taking hold across both public and private landscapes.

Each of Palo Alto's native oaks plays a unique ecological role: the Coast Live Oak anchors local food webs and supports hundreds of native insects and birds; the Valley Oak stores more carbon than almost any other California native tree; the Blue Oak endures drought and poor soils that few other species can survive; and the Black Oak adds vital diversity to urban woodlands, providing rich fall habitat and color. Together, they form the living backbone of the region's biodiversity and climate resilience.

The Great Oak Count, which began in 2017 and was just completed this past summer, was funded by the City of Palo Alto and powered by more than 350 volunteers who contributed thousands of hours, walking nearly 280 survey routes across 24 neighborhoods to map and measure over 11,000 native oaks. It is one of the only ground-verified oak inventories of its kind in California. The full report can be found on the City of Palo Alto website here.

More on The Young Tree Care Survey: Monitoring Growth, Renewal, and Resilience

While some older neighborhoods are showing signs of mature canopy loss, the City's southern and emerging neighborhoods are telling a more hopeful story.

Canopy's latest completed Young Tree Care Survey shows that 77 percent of young trees are in "good" or "excellent" condition, with a 5 percent mortality rate. The survey includes trees planted in recent years by both the City and Canopy, assessing health, care needs, and homeowner engagement.

Since 2016, Canopy and the City of Palo Alto have partnered through the South Palo Alto Tree Initiative to plant, monitor, and care for thousands of new trees in neighborhoods south of the Oregon Expressway. In that time, Canopy and its volunteer community have planted more than 1,500 trees - the majority of them drought-tolerant or native species adapted to thrive in a warming climate.

Volunteer participation and outreach also expanded: over 500 households received care tips or watering reminders, helping build a citywide culture of stewardship. These collective efforts are reducing young tree mortality and strengthening climate resilience one block at a time.

This year's survey wrapped up with the help of 16 volunteers and student interns logging more than 85 hours and surveying 840 young trees across 85 routes. The study also noted strong homeowner engagement, with increased watering and mulching compared to previous years. The full report can be found on the City of Palo Alto website here.

"Almost 25 years of Canopy's annual Young Tree Care Survey demonstrates the importance of tree care and the community forestry model," said Aubrey Knier, Canopy's community forestry manager. "When community members are equipped with the tools and skills to care for their own trees, we can achieve much more together. Tree survival rates soar, entire neighborhoods grow cooler and greener, and residents connect with their urban forest and each other."

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