It appears Arlington leaders are not planning to swing for the fences when it comes to the community’s tree coverage.
The county government’s draft Forestry and Natural Resources Plan, which currently is making its way through the review process, calls for maintaining tree-canopy levels at around 40 percent, as they currently are, without proposing actions to significantly boost the numbers, as tree activists seek.
The county’s overall tree canopy has been the subject of sometimes divisive debate between county leaders, who say it is stable and at an acceptable level, and tree advocates, who say the county’s figures are exaggerated and more needs to be done to augment the overall canopy.
The draft natural-resources plan, two years in the making and slated for County Board action by the end of the year, does suggest the county government set “aspirational” goals for tree coverage in new public projects. But it offers no specific numbers or a roadmap to prioritize tree canopy in the development process.
A community forum on the draft plan will take place on Wednesday, June 14 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Lubber Run Community Center. Public comment on the plan, which goes well beyond tree canopy in its scope, will run through June 30.
For information, including the entire draft plan, see the Website at www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Projects/FNRP.
