About Urban Forestry

Organization

Valued at $9.5 billion, Portland's trees are critical city infrastructure. Urban Forestry protects and grows this shared asset through tree planting and care, education, volunteer stewardship, and community partnerships—with research, data, and community feedback guiding our programs and services. Our work is informed by the Portland Urban Forest Plan, which provides a roadmap for protecting, expanding, and caring for Portland's trees.

We are proud of our long history protecting this vital asset, reflected in the City's 50-year recognition as a Tree City USA, our designation as a Tree City of the World, and our accreditation for urban forestry excellence by the Urban and Community Forestry Society.

Urban Forestry Leadership Team

• Jenn Cairo, Portland City Forester
• Paul Anderson, Tree Maintenance Operations Manager
• Angie DiSalvo, Science, Outreach, and Planting Manager
• Brian Landoe, Strategy & Planning Manager

Portland Permitting and Development Leadership

• Robert Irving, Tree Permitting Division Interim Manager

What we do

Expanding tree canopy

• Urban Forestry and partners planted 8,500 trees in 2025 across streets, parks, public properties, schools, community sites, and private yards—most of them large, evergreen, or native. Data show previously planted trees are surviving and thriving.
• Urban Forestry and partners are making new spaces for trees where they are needed most through innovative designs like Trees in the Curb Zone and adding street trees to medians along 82 Avenue.

Caring for trees

• Thanks to the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund, Urban Forestry is reducing tree care costs for Portlanders.
  • The Tree Care Assistance program provides income-qualified property owners with financial assistance for the maintenance and care of existing private property trees.
  • Portland Street Tree Care is piloting a citywide program to care for street trees.
  • In July 2025, the City eliminated nearly all tree permit fees, including fees for tree removal and replanting, street tree pruning, and administrative reviews and appeals.
• From 2023 to 2025, Urban Forestry staff mapped and inventoried 252,000 street trees to guide future care and management.
• Urban Forestry inspects roughly 20,000 trees in City parks and natural areas each year, and completes nearly 3,000 maintenance activities, including pruning and replanting trees when needed.
• Urban Forestry maintains a list of Local Tree Care Providers who have who have completed the City's workshop in the last year and meet other qualifications.

Serving Portland

• Urban Forestry prioritizes services in lower canopy neighborhoods to ensure all Portlanders can experience the benefits and services trees bring.
• Urban Forestry fosters community partnerships to educate, engage, and empower volunteers to plant and care for trees in their neighborhoods—with over 6,000 volunteers contributing over 10,000 hours in 2025.
• Each year, the City's tree hotline (503-823-TREE) responds to around 15,000 customer requests about trees and permits.
• Urban Forestry provides around-the-clock response to around 2,200 tree emergencies each year, keeping public streets and spaces safe.

Watch this video about our emergency tree response with translated subtitles: Spanish | Russian | Simplified Chinese | Vietnamese 

Our work is funded by the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund, the Parks Local Option Levy, and City of Portland general funds.

Guidance

• Urban Forestry Commission
• Portland's Tree Code: Title 11 Trees
• Portland Urban Forest Plan

Contact us

General inquiries

• 503-823-TREE (8733)
• Trees@portlandoregon.gov

Tree emergencies

• Call 503-823-TREE (8733) to report a street or park tree emergency. Emergency dispatchers are available 24/7. Learn more about our emergency tree response.

Media relations questions and inquiries

• 503-823-5300 (office)
• 503-823-6634 (mobile)
• Mark.Ross@portlandoregon.gov 

PP&R translation or interpretation requests

Request translated materials or interpretation services by completing the PP&R Language Service form, or by calling PDX 311 at 503-823-4000, or 711 for TTY via Oregon Relay Service.