The City's award-winning Community Forest Advisory Board is charged with advising the Mayor on all policy issues relating to urban forestry. There are 14 board members appointed by the Mayor and the City Council.

History

The Community Forest Advisory Board was established in 1999 (Municipal Code 26.051 - 26.053) to provide advice and recommendations directly to the Mayor and City Council on all policy issues relating to urban forestry. The vision statement for the Board is to "create mechanisms for establishing, advocating and stewarding, in perpetuity, a healthy urban forest and thereby a healthy, attractive and prosperous city." The board was tasked with advocating for proactive urban forestry policies, ordinances and guidelines.

Board Members

The Community Forest Advisory Board is comprised of 14 members appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council. It represents community members who have a particular insight into local community forest issues. In addition to their department responsibilities, the staff of the City's Office of Small Business serves as staff to the board, carrying out specific projects initiated by the board.

• Current Board Members

Additionally, staff from the Development Services, Parks and Recreation, Transportation and Stormwater departments regularly participate in an advisory capacity.

What Types of Issues Does the Board Address?

Promoting a healthy urban forest is high on the list of issues that the Community Forest Advisory Board addresses. To achieve this, the board is tasked with preparing a comprehensive urban forestry master plan and tree inventory, reviewing urban forestry-related policies and programs, networking with other boards, agencies and community residents, acting as a general information resource, and promoting volunteerism, reviewing the implementation and compliance with urban forestry policies and programs, seeking funding for the establishment and sustaining of an urban forestry program, and promoting and fostering a strong sense of community through urban forestry.

Urban Tree Canopy Workshop

The Urban Tree Canopy Assessment is (almost) completed, and it’s filled with fascinating data and maps! A workshop was held on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2024, at the War Memorial Building in Balboa Park that shared how this Assessment can be used to set tree canopy goals for how many (and where) trees can be planted, Correlate tree data with other community data layers (demographics, health, thermal load, stormwater runoff), and incorporate data into climate action plans, General Plan, community plans and project designs.

A copy of the presentation is available here

Meetings

Board Chair: Jim Smith

COVID- 19 PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING COMMISSION AND COMMISSION COMMITTEE MEETING ACCESS AND PUBLIC COMMENT:

Until further notice, Commission for Arts and Culture and Commission for Art and Culture Committee meetings will be conducted pursuant to the provisions of California Executive Order 29-20, which suspends certain requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act. During the current state of emergency and in the interest of public health and safety, commissioners and committee members will participate in meetings by teleconference. In accordance with the Executive Order, there will be no members of the public in attendance at the meetings. We are providing alternatives to in-person attendance for viewing and participating in meetings.

In lieu of in-person attendance, members of the public may submit their comments using the webform, indicating the agenda item number for which they wish to submit their comments. Instructions for word limitations and deadlines are noted on the webform. On the webform, members of the public should select Arts & Culture Commission (even if the public comment is for a Commission for Arts and Culture Committee meeting).

The public may view the meetings on YouTube.

Meeting Times

The Community Forest Advisory Board meets the second Wednesday of each month from 10 to 11:30 a.m. The public may view the meetings online at their scheduled time.

Agendas

Meeting Minutes

Links

• Boards and Commissions
• Urban Forestry
• San Diego Urban Forest Council