The Abridged version:
- Sacramentans are proud of their renowned tree canopy, but it faces pressure from climate, disease and other threats.
- A key issue is equity — some neighborhoods lack adequate tree coverage because of the way Sacramento developed.
- There are several steps property owners can take to expand and protect Sacramento’s tree canopy.
For generations, Sacramento has proudly called itself the City of Trees. That identity didn’t grow by accident. It came from decades of intentional planting, civic pride and a shared belief that shade, beauty and livability mattered.
Today, that legacy is under real pressure.
Sacramento’s trees are aging. Summers are hotter. Water is scarcer. Pests and disease exploit stress. Some neighborhoods have abundant shade. Others have almost none.
Yet the story is more complicated — and more hopeful — than a simple narrative of decline.
According to the city of Sacramento, the urban forest as a whole remains healthy, and in recent years the city has consistently planted more trees than it removes. The challenge, officials say, is scale, equity and climate resilience.
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Canopy at a crossroads
Scientists and tree advocates agree: Sacramento is at a crossroads — but it is still better positioned than most cities in the world, if it acts deliberately.
Compared to other U.S. cities, Sacramento still has unusually rich tree diversity and canopy.
“Sacramento is the city of trees,” says Dr. Alessandro Ossola, associate professor at UC Davis and chair of the Saratoga Horticultural Research Endowment. “Compared to other cities, Sacramento has relatively high canopy cover and greater species richness. Some neighborhoods have even gained canopy. Others have lost canopy, and that is where we can make the most difference going forward.”
From the city’s perspective, the most important measure of progress is straightforward: the percentage of land shaded by trees.
“Canopy coverage is the single greatest metric for understanding whether the benefits of an urban forest are increasing or decreasing,” says Kevin Hocker, the city’s urban forester.
Sacramento’s current canopy coverage stands at approximately 19%. The city’s long-term goal, outlined in the Urban Forest Plan, is 35%. Reaching that target will require time, funding and broad public participation.
“To meet the city’s highly ambitious goal of increasing canopy coverage from 19% to 35%,” Hocker says, “additional funding, staffing and partnerships will be necessary.”
Uneven tree loss a key problem
The challenge is not simply whether trees exist. It’s where they exist — and where they do not.
Wealthier neighborhoods benefited from larger parcels, planned planting and sustained investment. Other neighborhoods were built with less space, fewer trees and decades of underinvestment.
“Urban morphology — the way the city was designed decades ago — is a big reason why some neighborhoods have strong canopy and others don’t,” Ossola explained. “When underserved neighborhoods lose even one tree, they can lose 100% of their shade. That loss hits harder, faster and with greater environmental impact.”
The city acknowledges this imbalance. Sacramento’s Urban Forest Plan identifies priority areas where increased canopy would deliver the greatest health and climate benefits, and those areas are intended to guide future allocation of resources when funding and opportunities arise, Hocker said.
Climate, aging force strategy shift
Sacramento’s most iconic shade trees were planted 60 to 100 years ago. They are reaching the end of their natural lives just as climate stress accelerates.
“Just like people, different tree species experience stress differently,” Ossola said. “Some are more vulnerable to aging. Others are more sensitive to drought or heat waves. Some are especially vulnerable to pests or disease.”
City planners are responding by rethinking what gets planted next.
The Urban Forest Plan, together with Sacramento’s Climate Action & Adaptation Plan, emphasizes increasing species diversity and selecting trees better adapted to future climate conditions, Hocker says — a deliberate shift away from past strategies that relied too heavily on a small number of species.
Advocates seek policy changes
Former Sacramento Tree Foundation executive director and current California ReLeaf Board President Ray Tretheway says policy — not public apathy — is one of the biggest barriers to canopy renewal.
Right now, Sacramento primarily plants city street trees in designated planting strips between sidewalk and curb. Many lower-income neighborhoods simply don’t have those strips.
Under the current policy, that often means no street trees.
“If we could change policy to allow planting within 12 feet of the sidewalk, the city could finally plant in neighborhoods that need shade the most,” Tretheway says. “Yes, it would require investment. But the payoff in health, safety, livability and community pride would be tremendous.”
The city’s Urban Forest Plan acknowledges such constraints — including sidewalks, utilities, flood infrastructure and development pressures — and outlines implementation measures intended to better balance infrastructure needs with canopy preservation.
Trees are infrastructure — not decoration
Scientists are blunt: Cities without trees are hotter, more polluted more flood-prone and less livable.
“There are countless reasons why trees are essential infrastructure,” Ossola said. “They reduce extreme heat, manage stormwater, support physical and mental health, and improve neighborhood safety and value.”
Tretheway agrees — and says Sacramento has a tool almost no other city can match: the SMUD Shade Program.
The program is powerful, Tretheway says, because it allows “a trained professional (to) come to your home, help you choose the right tree, teach you how to plant it, give you stakes and guidance — and provide as many trees as your property can support. For free.
“We inherited one of the greatest urban forests in the world,” Tretheway said. “Now our responsibility is to honor it and carry it forward.”
Property owners can pitch in
Roughly 90% of Sacramento’s trees are on private property.
The city regulates how certain protected trees can be pruned or removed and offers guidance, Hocker noted, but property owners are responsible for the care of trees on their land.
Hocker considers that an opportunity, not a challenge.
“There is no shortage of people with good ideas,” Hocker says. “But organized groups of like-minded and well-informed people are far more effective at turning good ideas into reality than individuals working alone.”
Experts agree that residents still hold enormous power and suggest several steps:
- Get free trees through SMUD Sacramento Shade.
- Water new trees consistently for their first five years.
- Ask landlords for permission to plant, and emphasize cooling and property value.
- Protect healthy mature trees whenever possible.
- Support neighborhood planting in low-canopy areas.
- Volunteer or donate to Sacramento Tree Foundation or California ReLeaf.
- Engage with neighborhood groups and city leaders about trees.
Finally, plant a tree to commemorate life milestones.
“Every time there is a major memory — a birth, a wedding, a turning point — plant a tree,” Ossola said. “It creates a living legacy.”
Daryl V. Rowland is a Sacramento-based freelance writer.