Evergreen Community Recognition Application

Welcome to the Evergreen Community Recognition Application. Washington State cities, towns, counties, and areas of tribal lands are eligible to apply and be considered for recognition of their ongoing urban forestry efforts.


Requirements vary by year:

  • Year One/Initial Application:
  • Complete online application and meet required standards.
  • Recognized entities may be asked to provide updates to or complete the application in future years after related events (e.g., Adoption of a new Urban Forest Management Plan).
  • Year Two and Beyond:
  • 90-minute goal setting meeting with Evergreen Community Team and DNR UCF staff.
  • 60-minute mid-year check-in with Urban Forester or equivalent and DNR UCF staff.
  • One activity completed related to established goal.


Standards of Evergreen Community Tier One include:

  • Development and implementation of a tree board or tree department.
  • Development of a tree care ordinance.
  • An urban forestry program with an annual budget of at least $2 per resident.
  • Official recognition of Arbor Day.
  • Complete, update, or formally adopt a tree inventory of any sample size.


Standards of Evergreen Community Tier Two include:

  • All Tier One Standards.
  • Adoption of an Urban Forest Management Plan (including outreach to vulnerable populations).


For additional details on the listed standards, please review The Evergreen Community FAQ document.


Applicants are encouraged to contact the Evergreen Community Program Coordinator at Urban_Forestry@dnr.wa.gov with any questions about the application or application requirements.

All fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required. Forms with signatures must be signed, scanned, and attached as PDF documents.


Additional fields will be displayed based on your responses provided.

For which Evergreen Community tier are you applying?*

Evergreen Community Tier One

Evergreen Community Tier Two


Community Type*

Submitter

Phone

Forestry Contact

Information about your staff position tasked with tree related matters in the community. Your Forestry Contact will be required to attend both the annual meeting and a 60-minute mid-year check-in.

Phone

Leadership Representative

Information about your department or division head, office manager, or similar position. This contact must be separate from the listed Forestry contact and will be required to attend the annual meeting.

Phone

Additional Representative

Information about an additional representative you'd like on your Evergreen Community Team. Consider positions such as urban forestry advocates, planning or permitting department staff, tree board members, or similar. This contact will be required to attend the annual meeting.

Phone

City Management

Information about your city manager, mayor, or equivalent position for communication of status and events. City management staff is not required to attend Evergreen Community meetings.

Phone

If an elected official, please provide the expiration date of the current term.


T1Q1. The first four standards to become an Evergreen Community align with the four standards to earn Tree City USA recognition. Is your community recognized as Tree City USA; have you completed the alternative standards form available to counties, area of tribal lands, and cities/towns; or do you meet the Evergreen Community Tier One standards?*

Standards of Evergreen Community Tier One include:

  • Development and implementation of a tree board or tree department.
  • Development of a tree care ordinance.
  • An urban forestry program with an annual budget of at least $2 per resident.
  • Official recognition of Arbor Day.
  • Complete, update, or formally adopt a tree inventory of any sample size.
T1Q2. Has your community developed and implemented a tree board or tree department?*

Information provided should include the division/department head, tree board chair, etc.

T1Q3. Does your community have an urban forestry program with an annual budget of at least $2 per resident.*

Also include information such as volunteer hours; # of trees planted, pruned, removed; and a breakdown of budget (maintenance, management, removal, etc.).

T1Q4. Does your community have a tree care ordinance?*
T1Q5. Does your community officially recognize Arbor Day?*
T1Q6. Has your city, county, or tribe completed or updated an existing urban forest tree inventory or formally adopted an inventory developed by DNR?*

Note: A canopy analysis or landcover assessment does not qualify as an urban forest tree inventory. To qualify, your city, county, or tribe must have gathered data on at least some trees being managed or maintained by your entity, including but not limited to street trees, park trees, trees surrounding maintained buildings, etc.

T1Q7. Has your most up to date tree inventory been provided to DNR? If partially or fully funded by a DNR Community Forestry Assistance Grant, DNR has your inventory data.*

Please reference this list if you are unsure of your inventory status. If you have questions on how to provide your tree inventory, please contact the Evergreen Community Program Coordinator via Urban_Forestry@dnr.wa.gov.


Why are we seeking this data? DNR maintains an aggregated urban forest tree inventory database. The agency retains copies of gathered tree inventories and internally uses the data to evaluate Washington’s urban forests in quantitative terms.

T1Q8. How often does your community reference your tree inventory data?*
T1Q11. Will your tree inventory be updated in the next 3 years or is it up to date?*

Please note these requests are not guaranteed, but rather help us understand community needs.


Evergreen Community Tier Two


T2Q1. Are you currently recognized as a Tier One Evergreen Community or are you submitting both applications?*
T2Q2. Does your community have an Urban Forestry Management Plan (UFMP) or equivalent alternate plan that meets or exceeds the DNR minimum standards ? Please include the year it was adopted.*

T2Q3.    Please note where in your UFMP/alternative the following required elements are represented. You may copy and paste language and include document name and page number below; or, highlight and annotate directly on document and provide the document name and page number below.

The community's vision for the urban forest. This could be a vision statement or represented community goals based on your community outreach and engagement.

Some topics this may include are tree species distribution, age of your urban forest, any tree survey data that may be relevant, and tree canopy cover percentage.

Where in the plan addresses adaptation to changing conditions and circumstances such as climate, pests, outbreaks, etc.?

This could include which departments have direct care and they manage, which entity performs which task: e.g., fire hazard at wildland urban interface, construction damage to tree roots, tree health, etc.

Where the plan puts action to future goals for the urban forest and uses data based on the resources, management, and community’s needs.

This may be tied into the goals section, e.g., Goal→ Objective → Action. How does your community plan to achieve your goals?

Limit your response to 6 bullet points or less or about 2 short paragraphs.

Vulnerable Populations are communities that experience a disproportionate cumulative risk from environmental burdens due to adverse socioeconomic factors and sensitivity factors; the full definition can be found in RCW 19.405.020. Please review the Washington Environmental Health Disparities Map to identify vulnerable populations and highly impacted communities. The map is a guide to the indicators such as reduced canopy cover, proximity to intensively developed sites like highway corridors, industrial areas, commercial districts, flood plain status, socioeconomic data, etc. but because a vulnerable population doesn't show up on the map doesn't mean they aren't present.

T2Q6.    Please upload Urban Forestry Management Plan or equivalent. If you plan exceeds 30MB, please email it to Urban_Forestry@dnr.wa.gov with the subject line “Evergreen Community Application Your Community Name Management Plan.”


Please upload your signature page and additional documents. Up to 10 separate files may be uploaded. Maximum file size is 30MB each with a total combined limit of 250MB. All files must be PDF format.


Use the list below to ensure you have all applicable required elements and any optional attachments.


  • Application Signature Form signed by your Authorized Representative
  • Tree Inventory Data
  • Urban Forestry Management Plan or equivalent documents
Drag and drop files here or

The Tree Equity Collaborative is a partnership between DNR and American forests to expand neighborhood tree canopy cover by engaging communities to build more inclusive urban forestry programs. More information about TEC can be found at American Forests.

Please contact Julia Kast, the Evergreen Community Program Coordinator, at Urban_Forestry@dnr.wa.gov

Your application cannot be completed. Please contact the Evergreen Community Program Coordinator to determine the steps required to be eligible for the Evergreen Community Recognition Program.


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