The first thing you notice about Palo Alto? “It’s the trees".
The luxuriously leafy “urban forest canopy” lives up to the name. It’s only fitting, because the City itself is named for the El Palo Alto (“the tall tree”) coast redwood still standing in El Palo Alto Park on the banks of San Francisquito Creek. The City of Palo Alto is distinguished by the State of California and National Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City-USA.
The City of Palo Alto is endowed with a large population of magnificent trees, native and non-native, on public and private properties. Trees are a source of shade, air conditioning and other environmental benefits, providing quality of life and economic benefits to the community, residents and businesses.
Palo Alto tree programs are aimed at sustaining trees in the challenging developed and natural areas that require careful planning and vigilant maintenance. The Urban Forest Master Plan structure targets important areas of environmental stewardship:
Tree management programs
Key staffing for both public and private program areas
Partnerships and education with community residents and Canopy, a non-profit organization
Administration of the tree preservation and management regulations adopted in 1996.
In concert, these areas function as primary tools to provide for the orderly management of regulated trees, and are fruitful far beyond what either of these segments alone could have independently accomplished.
The City of Palo Alto welcomes you to browse our programs, use the forms and tools for best practices, find contacts and links, and learn from our educational resources and updated news.
City Owned Trees The Street Tree Management Program adopted in 1984 specifies City policy for maintenance and planting programs, among other things. [more]
Development and Trees When planning redevelopment of a property, or performing any remodeling, construction, or additions, you should familiarize yourself with the Tree Ordinance regulations that apply to your property. [more]
Palo Altans Protecting the Planet---2013 Update Celebrate the Earth all the time! See the community's progress on our Climate Protection Plan and find links to events, programs and services you can take advantage of now! [more]
