About*:
ReLeaf Syracuse is the City’s new initiative to develop a plan for the future of the City’s trees and to sustain the partnerships to work the plan into reality. The initiative is led by Syracuse Parks Department, Onondaga Earth Corps and a steering committee representing community organizations, business and government agencies.
It’s been over 20 years since the devastating Labor Day Storm that toppled thousands of trees across Syracuse (on public and private land). Despite efforts to bring back trees that were lost, Syracuse’s tree canopy cover of 27% has remained relatively unchanged since 1998 and is below the average of 34% for cities east of the Mississippi River. But City officials and numerous community partners want to change that through the initiative ReLeaf Syracuse.
Purpose:
The purpose of ReLeaf Syracuse is to develop an urban forest master plan that provides a roadmap to a healthy, safe and expanding tree canopy in the city. The plan will have definable and measurable 5-year and 20-year goals. A critical part of the initiative is to build on and expand partnerships to implement what is proposed in the plan.
Once complete the new master plan for trees in the city will be used to inform and update the city’s municipal tree ordinance which was last modified in 1981.
Origin:
ReLeaf Syracuse was the name of the steering committee formed by then Mayor Roy Bernardi to develop a response plan after the devastating loss of trees following the Labor Day Storm of 1998. The committee disbanded in 2001 however, the spirit of that effort and the master plan that was developed after the storm remains the today through community stewardship and youth employment programs dedicated to the planting and care of trees.
*Text borrowed from Syracuse Parks & Rec website.