Penticton is on its way to becoming a greener city – literally – with the help of a new urban tree management plan.

The City Council voted 5-1 to adopt the new plan on August 20. Elements of the plan will be incorporated into the 2025 budget planning and the next review of the official community plan.

The goal of the plan is to achieve 18 percent tree canopy cover citywide by 2045.

Current tree cover within city limits is 17 percent, with an average of 12 percent in urban areas. City staff noted that while the average is 12 percent, areas such as downtown have an average tree cover of less than five percent.

The status quo presented to the Council assumed that tree populations were disappearing faster than they were being replaced and that there would be a loss of one percent by 2045.

City staff determined that each percent of tree canopy is equivalent to about 42 acres of tree canopy area, or the tree cover of 50 football fields.

“My biggest issue with this is that trees grow slower, especially here inland compared to the coast,” said Councilman Isaac Gilbert. “I think this plan is future-oriented. If we do nothing about this net loss, that’s not what we want to leave our children in the city.”

The City of Penticton currently owns and manages about a quarter of the city’s tree canopy, with another 18 percent on other public lands and the remainder on private property.

City Councilor Helena Konanz questioned the extent to which the city’s semi-arid desert environment was taken into account compared to other cities whose urban tree plans are included in the report.

“There is some research on semiarid climates that is similar to this,” said consultant Matthew Shields. “Melissa McHale’s research looked at the impact of urban greening on this very problem, namely water use over time in the city of Fort Collins, a city of about 200,000 people in the Front Range of eastern Colorado. Her research actually found that in some cases, increasing tree cover was associated with decreasing water use.”

The plan was developed in consultation with the Penticton Indian Band, including collaboration with Sn’pinktn Forestry LP and their expertise in reforestation and conservation.

Gilbert expressed hope that when the time comes to pass a tree planting ordinance, the city might consider setting limits on the number of trees that can be planted to prevent the spread of trees unsuitable for the site.

The estimated cost of the new plan, if approved during budget deliberations, would increase from the current $300,000 to $1.1 million, taking into account grants and other methods of covering costs.

The City plans to request $150,000 in the 2025 budget to fund a new position and additional tree planting in 2025.

Konanz was the only dissenting voice, as the implementation of the plan would entail increased costs and the required additional personnel.

The planned planting includes 175 caliper-sized trees annually on public lands and an additional 400 trees per year for restoration in natural areas.