PITTSBURG – In a city where summer heat outpaces shade, Pittsburg is taking steps to expand its urban tree canopy to ensure that every neighborhood, especially those impacted by rising temperatures and air quality issues, benefit from more trees.
Thanks to a $2 million federal grant awarded by the U.S Department of Agriculture’s Forest Services in February 2024, Pittsburg has embarked on its first-ever long-term Urban Forest Management Plan to bring more trees, cleaner air, and help improve the quality of life of its more than 75,000 residents.
The grant, part of a $1.5 billion program under the Inflation Reduction Act, is meant to support urban tree-planting efforts, especially in disadvantaged communities.
To kickstart the plan, Pittsburg first needed to determine the number of existing trees and provide a detailed canopy assessment to show how much of the city was covered. The city also had to identify possible areas to plant more trees.
An analysis by PlanIT Geo, an urban forestry software development and consulting firm, found that 6% of Pittsburg’s land area is covered by trees, which is less than half of the average compared to other cities that typically have around 14% to 15%.
Fremont, for instance, boasts a 14.4% canopy cover in urban areas, while Pleasanton sits at 25.3%.
According to the nonprofit American Forests, Pittsburg’s “tree equity score” lags behind its neighbors in Contra Costa County.
The score measures how well “the benefits of trees are reaching communities living on low-incomes, communities of color, and others disproportionately impacted by extreme heat and other environmental hazards.”
A score of 100 means that a neighborhood has enough tree cover. The lower the score, the greater the need for a tree canopy.
Pittsburg had a score of 67, ranking it among the lowest in the county, next to Bay Point at 62 and Antioch at 69. Oakley scored 72, and Brentwood received a score of 76.
In contrast, Lafayette and Walnut Creek scored top marks with 99 and 93, respectively.
Natasha Farmer, an administrative analyst with the Pittsburg Public Works Department, said the city hopes to improve its score by growing its citywide canopy coverage to 10% by 2050.
That would require the addition of nearly 30,000 new trees over the next 25 years, building on the roughly 37,700 public trees already maintained by the city.
Over the years, Farner said Pittsburg has slowly expanded its tree canopy cover, growing from 4% in 2010 to 6% in 2022.
Some older neighborhoods have low tree canopy coverage due to poor planning, said Farmer. There are also some older trees and problematic species, such as camphor trees, that are notorious for damaging sidewalks and asphalt with their root system.
“Technically, what we can do in those situations is to remove them because they’re just going to keep costing money to replace the streets and sidewalks,” said Farmer. “But if we go in and cut down all those trees in that neighborhood, there would be no shade, and it would get hotter.”
To address this, Farmer said the urban forest management plan focuses on updating tree care and management practices to support healthy trees, making the city and its trees more climate-resilient, and addressing inequities so that all residents have fair access to more shade.
Unlike other cities that create a 10-year plan, Pittsburg aims to develop a 40-year urban forestry master plan to be better prepared for climate change, sustainability, and budget limitations, said Farmer.
The city is also conducting a survey seeking input, feedback, and ideas from residents to better shape its plan.
The assessment by PlanIT Geo also found that only 29% of Pittsburg’s land is suitable for new tree planting, due to impervious surfaces. But the city plans to make the most out of the available space.
By January 2029, the city plans to plant 450 new trees, with half in underserved areas. So far, about 100 new trees have been planted.
In 2027, the city also plans to offer trees free of charge to residents interested in growing, learning to care for, and managing their trees.
“We would do a maintenance agreement with them and they would be responsible for maintaining and watering the tree, which will add to our tree canopy,” said Farmer.
For many residents, the benefits can’t come soon enough.
Dulce Bernal, who lives in a low-income apartment complex near Highway 4, said her family struggles with heat and year-round air pollution. One of her own children suffers from asthma.
“I have to keep the air conditioner and air purifier system running all the time, otherwise my child’s asthma gets triggered,” said Bernal. “I spend more on electricity because of this.”
In downtown Pittsburg, Isebel Morales, who lives between east and west of 10th Street, said summer months are often difficult.
Living in an apartment without air conditioning and not having parks or shaded areas nearby often forces Morales and her children to escape to nearby stores or shopping malls to cool off.
“I would love to go maybe to a green area, but there’s no green area near here,” said Morales. “Maybe if there are more trees, it will be nice to go during afternoons.”
Both Bernal and Dulce feel the city needs to focus on areas such as downtown, Crestview Drive, Railroad Avenue, and other areas with disadvantaged populations.
“The city needs to do more planting events, not just once a year,” said Morales.