The Planning Process
•Establishing the vision
–Sets the direction for the plan
•Assessing the resources
–Tree inventory or canopy assessment
•Identifying the needs
–What things are needed to help realize the vision
•Setting goals and developing action plans
–Moderate, measurable goals to address needs
•Evaluating the outcomes
–Annually if possible
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What do we want?
What do we have?
How do we get what we want?
Are we getting what we wanted?

| The planning process does not need to be complicated. In fact, the more complex it is, the fewer people you will have interested in its development.
| Every community is different and thus plans vary among communities.
| However, the steps taken to create a plan are similar, and there is a logical sequence of events in the process that helps to produce a successful plan.
| The five basic steps in a management plan are: the vision, assessing the resources, identifying the needs, setting goals and developing action plans, and evaluating the outcomes.
| The vision sets the direction for your plan. Ask yourself “what do we want these trees to do for our community”.
| Once you have an idea of what your community forest will look like in the future, you will need to know what you currently have. Taking an inventory of the trees in your community will allow you see the current condition of your trees as a whole and help you to better understand what needs to be done to realize your vision. You should plan to reassess your trees periodically (i.e. every five years or so) to see how things are progressing.
| What types of things must be done (or needs to be done) to move your urban forest program toward your vision. Things such as public education, funding, tree maintenance policy, periodic tree inventories, tree ordinance, etc. are possible needs that should be addressed.
| With your needs outlined, set reasonable goals to address the needs. Develop measurable objectives or action items to help you accomplish the goals. Assign the action item to an individual or group, and give them a target date for completing the item. If there is a cost associated with the action item, it is a good idea to estimate that as well. This will be presented to the community’s elected officials (or whoever is responsible for the community’s finances). Costs usually must be justified, so it may also be a good idea to provide a good, valid reason why money should be spent on that action item.
| Periodically evaluate the progress of your plan. It may be a good idea to do this once every year, preferably well in advance of the start of the new fiscal year. Ask yourself, “Are we getting what we wanted?”. Was everything that we set out to do completed? If not, why not? You may need to re-evaluate your vision, needs, goals, and action items to ensure they are reasonable and/or attainable. At this point, you will want to set new goals and objectives for the new year, or you may simply need to set new completion dates in order to accomplish the goals previously set out. A professional arborist can help you determine what goals are attainable and at what cost.