A report on Annapolis' present and potential Urban Tree Canopy

"[This] report explains the Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) goal setting process implemented in Annapolis, Maryland in 2005."City staff, MD DNR, and representatives from US Forest Service and the University of Vermont Spatial Analysis Lab developed analytical methods for the UTC analysis, and established timelines for UTC goal setting completion."Using various GIS data, including high-resolution remote sensing data interpreted for trees and other vegetation and parcel information from the Maryland Department of Planning, the team was able to quantify existing UTC and possible UTC by geographical boundaries and parcel land use type. While it is easy to think of UTC enhancement in terms of planting trees, UTC enhancement requires a combination of tree protection, tree maintenance, and tree planting to be fully realized and efficiently implemented. The impacts of setting a UTC goal will likely include PROW [public right-of-way] and public Exempt Commercial lands. On private lands, a combination of education and outreach, landowner incentives, and refocusing of regulatory mechanisms (Critical Area Law, Forest Conservation Act, Landscape Ordinance, etc.) to specifically achieve the objectives of the UTC goal will likely be required."The basic premise of UTC enhancement is water quality improvement related to the Chesapeake Bay. In a study of all (245) small watersheds in Montgomery County, MD, Goetz et al. (2003) found overall of tree cover of 44.6% to be associated with stream health ratings of "good" and decreases in overall UTC associated with declines in stream health ratings. [from the Summary]