We plant, prune and remove all trees on public property, including nearly 200,000 boulevard trees on 1,100 miles of streets, 400,000 park trees on more than 7,000 acres of land, and trees on other city properties, such as police and fire stations, stormwater retention ponds, and Public Works facilities.

Benefits of the Urban Forest

Our urban forest is important to the health and well-being of Minneapolis and provides many benefits:

  • Improves quality of life
  • Increases property values
  • Lowers heating and air conditioning costs
  • Reduces stormwater runoff and prevents erosion
  • Provides wildlife habitats

Send an email to forestry@minneapolisparks.org or call 612-313-7710 for additional information.

The Minneapolis Tree Advisory Commission was created in March 2003 to enhance the Minneapolis urban forest and improve its long-term health.

 

Tree ManagementMinneapolis Trees

The authority to care for Minneapolis trees comes from the City Charter and municipal ordinances. The Forestry Department has established a set of standard operating procedures that guide our work. View our urban forestry policy.

Professional arborists, most certified through the International Society of Arboriculture, carry out our work.

We manage trees by performing three main tasks:

  1. Planting
  2. Pruning
  3. Removing

By performing these tasks, we’re able to care for boulevard trees and park trees throughout their life cycle.

The National Arbor Day Foundation has nationally recognized our city as a Tree City USA since 1979.

2019 Annual Report of the Minneapolis Tree Advisory Commission [YouTube Video]

The Urban Tree Canopy

The canopy of trees covers more than 29.8% of Minneapolis. Public trees comprise a small portion of the urban tree canopy in Minneapolis. See University of Minnesota’s 2015 Twin Cities Metropolitan Area Urban Tree Canopy Assessment for details.

We care for approximately 600,000 trees. As impressive as these numbers are, most tree canopy cover comes from trees growing on private properties.

Storms

Occasionally the life cycle of an urban tree is interrupted. The most recognizable interruption comes from storm damage.

When an isolated summer storm or geographically extensive tornado damages or destroys trees, Forestry staff postpones routine work to clean up tree debris. This allows the city to return to a state of normalcy as soon as possible.

Minneapolis Storm Cleanup

Pests

Other, more dramatic interruptions are described as once in a generation crises. The first was Dutch Elm Disease, which killed tens of thousands of elm trees in the 1970s.

The second such crisis is taking place today-the ongoing loss of tens of thousands of ash trees due to Emerald Ash Borer that was discovered in Minneapolis in 2010.

Emerald Ash Borer Tree Ribbon

Get Involved

It is the support and cooperation we receive from the public that helps keep our urban forest healthy and beautiful.

We offer many ways for you to get involved in caring for our trees.