Pre-Advertisement Notice for Urban Forest Master Plan

City of Atlanta

Departments of City Planning and Parks & Recreation

Scope of Work for: URBAN FOREST MASTER PLAN

EXHIBIT A

INTENT

The City of Atlanta ("the City"), on behalf of the Department of City Planning, the Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR), in collaboration with the Tree Conservation Commission, is soliciting proposals from qualified firms to develop a comprehensive Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP, "the Plan") for the City. This UFMP will guide strategic management, protection, and enhancement of the City's urban forest for the next 15 years, with 3- to 5-year achievable benchmarks. The plan will serve as a roadmap for sustainable urban forest management to optimize the contributions of the city's natural environment to the health, well-being, and resilience of the community.

The awarded vendor ("Consultant") is responsible for coordination and implementation of public and stakeholder engagement, data collection and review, and delivery of a plan document.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

The City of Atlanta, affectionately known as "The City in a Forest" by its residents, has an abundance of trees that contribute to a distinct forested landscape. A key aspect of Atlanta's resilience to a changing climate is implementing a premier action plan for its urban forest. The City views trees as a critical living utility network, on much the same level as water, sewer, and electricity. The City's commitment to preserving its green spaces and sustaining its urban forest is a defining characteristic of Atlanta.

The City's urban tree canopy coverage, at approximately 45.7%, is widely celebrated. However, the tree canopy faces challenges from urban development, and declined roughly 1.5% from 2008-2018, a loss of approximately one-half-acre per day. Approximately 7% of tree canopy is found in City-owned parks, acreage that makes up approximately 5.1% of land in the city. Development pressure on unprotected land is unprecedented, leaving the city vulnerable to canopy loss.

Atlanta's urban forest is exceptional in quality as well as quantity, with significant biodiversity, a high percentage of native trees, and patches of old growth forests and trees. This quality, rare in an urban setting, is well-worth preserving. However, both tree canopy and high-quality natural areas are under threat from invasive plant pressure, tree regeneration failure, erosion, stream degradation, deferred maintenance, and climate change, as well as development pressure. In the past ten years, approximately 1.5% of the City's canopy was lost and, additionally, an estimated 2% of the canopy was converted from biodiverse forests to a pine monoculture or invasive trees that grew after land clearing, but before project completion, and therefore may be cleared again when projects resume.

Policies, practices, and rapid development have created an environment that impacts the City's public trees and is outpacing sustainable best management practices. Additionally, the distribution of Atlanta's urban forest is uneven and does not meet the City's mission to provide access to nature for all residents. A well-informed public and community support of a comprehensive Urban Forest Master Plan is essential for maintaining and increasing the quality of Atlanta's canopy and reversing this pattern of canopy loss.

PROJECT GOALS

The Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP) will outline a plan and recommend polices to meet the following goals:

Reverse canopy decline. The Atlanta City Council committed to reverse canopy decline by establishing a goal of achieving 50% overall canopy coverage in the city. Atlanta City Design: Nature, the City of Atlanta's conceptual framework for designing with nature, concluded that achieving 50% canopy is challenging, but achievable. Activate ATL, the parks master plan set a goal of adding 275 acres of parkland each year for 10 years and preserving at least 50% of acquisitions as natural area.

Ensure equitable canopy preservation and maintenance. Disadvantaged areas make up nearly half the city (49.6%), according to social, environmental, and health indicators. In contrast to other cities, the disadvantaged areas of the city, in aggregate, have more canopy coverage than non-disadvantaged areas (52% vs. 41%) and contain 69% of the city's parks acreage. While data at the individual lot/residence level, stratified by income level, is not available, we have gained a great deal of information from extensive data analysis on the canopy coverage in various geographies, including neighborhoods, watersheds, and City Council Districts. It is critical to protect and increase tree canopy in areas where the population is most vulnerable to the adverse effects of heat and health disparities, and which experience a disproportionate impact when canopy is lost.

Increase efficiency of urban forest management. A guiding master plan will provide more efficient management of the urban forest. A management plan should address standards for maintaining and planting trees in parks, the right-of-way, and natural areas.

Street tree and park tree management. Because of historic funding limitations, the City has had a reactive, rather than systematic, approach to maintenance of trees on public land, leading to less equitable maintenance across the city.

Natural area management. Management of the City's publicly accessible natural areas is decentralized, and the City lacks standardized approaches to natural area management. Natural area land managers include the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), the Department of Watershed Management (DWM), and Atlanta Public Schools (APS).

Tree planting. Tree planting on public land (required by the tree protection ordinance as recompense when healthy trees are removed) has little oversight, leading to costly and unsustainable plantings that yield limited benefits for the urban forest. Planting should be prioritized based on existing canopy coverage, heat risk, flood risk, equity objectives, and the City's 50% tree canopy goal.

Increase Community's Understanding of the Urban Forest and Increase The Community's Connection to Nature: Community engagement is a priority for the City. We would like to incorporate community input as well as provide information to the public throughout the process of creating the Urban Forest Master Plan. The City will provide numerous opportunities for input via public meetings and engagement with neighborhood "ambassadors," as well as educational activities related to urban forest health, watershed health, and human health. These activities include placing new signage in natural areas, stream-naming, restoration of a watershed mural, and other engagement. The City will also assess the level of access to nature by mapping existing hiking trails and wayfinding signage. Improving public access to nature is critical for increasing health benefits, enhancing quality of life, and fostering stewardship of natural areas.

REQUIREMENTS

The Consultant will work with the City project team, internal stakeholder groups, the steering committee, and the general public to complete the UFMP.

City Project Team DPR Director of Natural Resources; DPR Arboricultural Manager - Natural Areas & Land Management; DPR Arboricultural Manager - Operations; and DCP Tree Conservation Commission Project Management; and the DCP Arboricultural Manager. The City Project Team is the coordinator of the stakeholders listed below and will have final decision-making authority regarding the drafting and completion of the Urban Forest Master Plan. Any disputes or conflicts related to integrating stakeholder input, incorporating decisions of the City Project Team, and completing the UFMP will be resolved by the Commissioner of Parks and the Commissioner of Planning.

Steering Committee This committee will be comprised of City staff, stakeholders, and residents.

Internal Stakeholder Groups DPR, DCP, Department of Watershed Management (DWM), Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATL DOT), Department of Public Works (DPW), Mayor's Office of Sustainability and Resilience (MOSR), Mayor's Office of Safety; and the Deputy Commissioner for Park Planning and Design (DPR).

External Stakeholder Groups (including but not limited to): Georgia Forestry Commission; Georgia Tree Council; Atlanta Public Schools (APS); Georgia Power; Trees Atlanta; Eco-Addendum; watershed groups-West Atlanta Watershed Alliance; South River Watershed Alliance; Chattahoochee Riverkeeper; American Rivers; Park Pride; and Atlanta Downtown Improvement District.

General Public Residents, Neighborhood Planning Units, neighborhood organizations, Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods, park conservancies, and friends of the park groups.

The Consultant will establish scheduled progress meetings with the City Project Team and the Steering Committee. The Consultant will prepare written progress reports, and we encourage use of an invitation-based online project management tool for sharing reports and other information with both teams. The Consultant will also provide meeting minutes, regularly updated schedules, and data as it is collected. Progress meetings will be held via either Zoom or Microsoft Teams. All agendas, minutes, and facilitation of the progress meetings shall be the responsibility of the Consultant.

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

Consultant must have demonstrated experience developing UFMPs for Cities similar or greater in population and acreage to Atlanta.

Consultant must have experience organizing and conducting engagement with community members in the development of the UFMP.

Consultant must have demonstrated experience that includes developing recommendations for tree maintenance, natural area management, tree planting, and policy development.

SCOPE OF SERVICES

The following scope will serve as the intended framework of tasks to complete the entire project.

Present status of urban forest. Based on available data, assess the current health and condition of the existing tree canopy, its structure, diversity, health and distribution; assess vulnerabilities to loss due development, pests and diseases, and a changing climate, and suggest measures to counteract threats. Develop actionable recommendations for adapting for long-term sustainability of the urban forest.

Management modalities for highest quality forests. Review management standards and practices in existing nature preserves, DWM properties, and Tree Trust Fund forests, and make any relevant recommendations for improvement or streamlining of management.

Technology. Evaluate how the City uses available technology to manage the urban forest, and what data-driven approaches are available to enhance it.

Internal capacity. Assess the City's current operational capacity to support the urban forest. Identify means to maximize the resources and capacities of the City's Arborist and Forestry Sections. Compare the City's urban forestry budget and staff capacity to other cities of similar population (e.g. 300k+), land area (e.g. 75 sq mi+), and/or geography (e.g. forest ecosystem).

City Codes and standards. Analyze relevant City codes and standards of practice related to the urban forest and make recommendations for additions, updates, and improvements.

Policy factors. Evaluate the existing policies and practices that affect trees on private property and provide recommendations for incentives to protect trees on private land.

Coordination among owners. Evaluate existing relationships with infrastructure owners (including streets, parking lots, under/overground utilities, private developments) as it relates to the urban forest. Suggest methods to improve coordination and cooperation.

Tree risk assessment. Evaluate the City's risk assessment protocol and develop formal Tree Risk Methodology, Standards of Practice, and Risk Management Protocols.

Public engagement. Engage the public via public meetings, stakeholder groups, a public survey, and interviews to understand the community's priorities for the UFMP. This feedback should be used to develop goals and recommendations of the UFMP.

Local expertise. Create and execute a robust involvement process to gather input from a diverse range of local expertise and resources to assist the City in creating a structure to build an ongoing, proactive, accountable relationship with public and private stakeholders.

Planting priorities. Based on available data and information, provide priority planting locations for public, private, and non-profit organizations to create momentum toward increasing canopy. Areas should match the City's goals related to environmental equity, tree loss mitigation, health demographics, heat vulnerability and energy burden, and neighborhood pride.

Wood reuse. Assess the current disposal practices for wood removed from the urban forest and explore an urban wood reuse program.

Urban farms and gardens. Evaluate the existing Urban Agriculture and Community Garden program. Identify priority sites for new gardens or farms. Create guidelines for integrating food production in parks, rights-of-way, easements, utility corridors, vacant lots, and other areas with no tree canopy or lower value tree canopy. Create policies for long-term land tenure and community stewardship.

Funding. Strategize actionable funding mechanisms for a stronger urban forest program.

Goals. Evaluate and establish goals for equitable canopy and access to greenspace and nature.

Metrics. Define metrics to measure success and keep the Urban Forest Master Plan updated and useful for the long term.

IDENTIFY LOGISTICS AND RESOURCE NEEDS TO IMPLEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

The Consultant is to perform an analysis quantifying the logistics and resources needed to implement any potential programs or recommendations included in the Plan. This analysis should include an estimate of personnel/staffing resources, equipment, timing/duration required and funding necessary for development, initial implementation, and if applicable, sustained operation and management of the programs and recommendations. The estimate should include low-, medium-, and high-cost scenarios for staffing and resources and may be based on "low," "moderate," good," and "optimal" outcomes.

COMMUNITY AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

The City of Atlanta is committed to meaningful and representative community involvement in its planning efforts, and the community expects to be thoughtfully and comprehensively involved. It is vital to obtain stakeholder input in identifying developing plan goals and objectives, priorities for the urban forest programs, and to the extent possible, building community consensus on recommendations contained in the plan. To ensure meaningful community participation, the consultant must develop a Public Engagement Plan (PEP), to be reviewed and approved by the City Project Team.

The PEP must include methods for involving constituencies often absent in planning efforts, such as ethnic and racial minorities, lower income residents, renters, and young people. The successful proposal will incorporate a variety of involvement techniques throughout the process to solicit input, test alternatives, and communicate findings. We suggest that the contractor coordinate with local engagement partners for this project and assessments of proposals that incorporate local and small businesses will be weighted accordingly.

Community engagement will be conducted before and during the development of the UFMP, soliciting feedback on development of the plan. Community feedback, along with the Urban Forest Assessments, will guide development of the Plan. Engagement efforts will include neighborhood ambassadors, a public survey, public meetings, factsheets summarizing assessment findings, and an online hub to connect people to presentations and resources.

The Consultant will develop and analyze a public survey to collect information about knowledge, perception, and needs of urban forest issues in Atlanta.

The City will select, train, and manage 25 neighborhood ambassadors (1-2 from each Neighborhood Planning Unit within disadvantaged communities). The Consultant will work with the City to interface with the ambassadors and will distribute the stipends (a one-time payment) on behalf of the City. Neighborhood ambassadors will receive training and each will interview at least three community members about their knowledge and perception of urban forest issues in their neighborhood, photograph examples of urban forest issues, host a tour of their neighborhood's urban forest issues, and help promote the public survey by distributing flyers and posting yard signs.

Engagement-Related Deliverables:

Public Engagement Plan (PEP). Development and execution of a PEP, including compilation of a Stakeholder Database and media plan.

Meeting minutes. Compile a project archive and maintain meeting minutes.

Meeting materials. Prepare materials for public meetings including slides and print materials.

Progress reports. Prepare progress reports for meetings with City Project Team.

Survey and summary report. Develop a public survey and compile and report actionable summary of results.

List of quotes. Compile quotes/photos from interviews, public meetings, the public survey, and neighborhood ambassador tours, which will be incorporated into the UFMP.

Photos. Collect and organize photos from public meetings and photos taken by neighborhood ambassadors, including obtaining consent to utilize photos in UFMP.

Infographics. Creation of infographics to help explain various areas of interest and to respond to questions posed during public engagement, which can also be utilized in fact sheets and UFMP. The contractor may coordinate and subcontract with local partners to develop and refine infographics tailored to the community.

DATA COLLECTION AND REVIEW

In addition to robust and meaningful public engagement, the City of Atlanta highly values accurate and thorough information to serve as the foundation for deliberation, policy, and decision-making. To that end, the UFMP should include a review and summary of the findings of available studies and assessments the City has completed (and those pending completion) such as those listed below.

The City of Atlanta will provide:

Smart Tree Inventory. The City will conduct its first ever Smart Tree Inventory of all street trees and trees in selected parks in Spring and Summer of 2026. Results should be incorporated into the UFMP, provided data collected in the Inventory is available by July 1, 2027. Once the Smart Tree Inventory data are provided, the Plan should summarize current forestry conditions, a benefits analysis of urban tree resources, and current and proposed management activities.

Tree Canopy Analyses. The City updated the Urban Tree Canopy Analysis in 2024. The Plan should include the findings of the 2024 analysis and show trends from previous analyses.

Forest Age Assessment. The City is utilizing aerial data (dating back as far as 1938 in some areas) to assess forest age of existing forests larger than or equal to one acre. The UFMP should include a review of this assessment and recommend ways to preserve privately-owned and public older forests and forest patches.

Natural Area Assessments. The City is mapping and assessing public natural areas one acre and larger. Ecosystems and sensitive or environmentally notable areas will be identified and mapped, along with information on deer browse, native and non-native groundcover density, native and non-native shrub density, tree regeneration, number of trees and basal area per acre, native and non-native vine density, and mineral soil. The UFMP should include a review of these assessments and provide recommendations to address any identified problems and improve the quality of the natural areas.

Aids for Nature Access. The City is mapping existing trails and existing wayfinding signage within public natural areas to assess barriers to the public's access to nature. Through this process, we will increase accessibility by identifying and addressing signage and other information needs, formalizing trails, assigning trail difficulty, and producing public-facing maps. The UFMP should include a review of this assessment and any recommendation for increasing public access to nature.

IDENTIFY AND EVALUATE OPPORTUNITIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

With the understanding and context gained from the document review and the community engagement process, the Consultant will identify and evaluate potential opportunities and recommendations for the UFMP. After reviewing current operations, the Consultant should provide recommendations on transitioning from a reactive urban forestry program to a proactive program.

THE PLAN DOCUMENT

The City is seeking an UFMP that is logically organized, well-written, and highly illustrative with both photographs, infographics, and explanatory information. The document needs to synthesize contextual information, data, public/stakeholder input, and urban forestry planning and management expertise into a set of actionable goals, objectives, and recommendations, and strategies that support the City's established goals and priorities.

The Plan's goals, objectives, recommendations, and strategies should offer behavioral- and science-based solutions. As a strategy document, the Plan must include benchmarks and policies relating to monitoring, timeframes, responsible parties, resource needs, funding possibilities, and measures of success. To the extent feasible, the recommendations for meeting the City's major goals and objectives should drive the structure and content of the UFMP document.

Once the final draft document is developed, the Consultant will provide information in a format suitable for City staff (and/or the Consultant) to present to the City Council for review and approval/adoption.

Following approval of the final UFMP, the Consultant will provide a PDF file, an editable file (e.g. Word format) and twenty-five printed and bound copies of the document to the City. The Consultant will also provide all electronic files, modeling, mapping data, and layouts.

RESOURCES

The following resources will be provided by the City of Atlanta for review, evaluation, and incorporation into the Urban Forest Master Plan.

Atlanta City Code

Atlanta City Council resolution (23-R-3338), adopted goal of achieving and maintaining 50% tree canopy coverage

2008 Urban Tree Canopy Report - baseline tree canopy analysis.

2014 Urban Tree Canopy Report - updated canopy analysis and canopy change analysis.

2018 Urban Tree Canopy Report - updated canopy analysis and canopy change analysis.

2024 Urban Tree Canopy Report - updated canopy analysis and canopy change analysis.

Atlanta Heat & Flood Risk Assessment - modeling of heat and flood susceptibility.

2011 Downtown Tree Inventory - street tree inventory of downtown and surrounding area.

Atlanta City Design: Aspiring to the Beloved Community - a guiding document for City of Atlanta incorporated into the city charter in 2017.

Atlanta City Design: Nature - an outgrowth of Atlanta City Design, a comprehensive plan to integrate natural systems with city planning.

Activate ATL - 2021 comprehensive 10-year master plan for parks and recreation plan.

Trails ATL - 30-year plan to build 535-mile network of multi-use trails.

Plan A - Atlanta's Comprehensive Development Plan - July 2025 official policy document guiding future physical growth and development.

Urban Wood Utilization Program Feasibility Study

City of Atlanta Climate Action Plan

Clean Energy Atlanta - a Vision for a 100% Clean Energy Future

City of Atlanta Watershed Improvement Plans

Atlanta Smart Surfaces Project - ATL Plantable Area, Decision Support Tool, Benefit-Cost Analysis Tool, Smart Surfaces Policy Tracker

Fresh Food Access Report 2020

One Atlanta Strategic Transportation Plan

Streets Atlanta - A Design Manual for Multimodal Streets 2018

City of Atlanta Public Right-of-Way Manual

Utility Manual - Utility Accommodation Policy and Standards Manual 2022

GDOT Design Policy Manual

Tree Equity Score

Community Tree Survey (conducted as part of the UFMP)

Summary Report of Tree Ambassador interviews (conducted as part of the UFMP)

FINAL DOCUMENT DELIVERABLES

Publishable public-facing document synthesizing all findings and recommendations.

Slide/print presentation for City Council's consideration for approval/adoption of the Plan (to be delivered by City staff and/or the Consultant).

TIMELINE

The work is part of a USFS Inflation Reduction Act and must be completed by April 30, 2029. We anticipate the work to begin by November 2026, but the start date will depend upon the duration of the selection process.