Pensacola’s longstanding commitment to growing and maintaining the community’s tree canopy earned national accolades recently – even as enhancements to the existing tree ordinance are in the works to give even more protection to the largest heritage trees.
The Arbor Day Foundation named Pensacola a 2025 Tree City USA, a 50-year-old program operated in partnership with the National Association of State Foresters and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
Secondly, American Forests, the oldest national nonprofit conservation organization in the U.S., lauded Pensacola as a Tree Equity Champion City for its commitment to using urban forests as a solution to address the impacts of extreme heat on vulnerable populations. The group also recognized Mayor D.C. Reeves for his commitment.
“Reeves has advocated alongside American Forests and fellow mayors from across the country for critical federal funding for urban and community forestry in 2025,” the organization noted in the award.
“The natural beauty of our City is one of our greatest assets, and our tree canopy is a huge part of the culture of Pensacola,” said Mayor D.C. Reeves. “We are grateful for these honors, but we are not resting on what we have accomplished. We have more than $650,000 in our Tree Trust Fund and we are committed to translating that money into plantings that add shade and natural beauty to our neighborhoods.”
The City established the Tree Planting Trust Fund in 2000 to manage revenue generated by mitigation fees and fines associated with the city’s tree and landscape ordinances. The City supplements this trust fund with external programs, such as neighborhood tree restoration programs and grant-funded initiatives.
So far in 2026, the City has:
- Planted 54 trees, with 30 more expected to be planted by December.
- Given away 253 tree plantings as part of the Arbor Day celebration in April.
- Expects two plantings from the Canopy Restoration Council scheduled for 2026, each expected to be around 80 trees. In 2025, the City planted or gave away 416 trees.
- Spent $46,828 from the Tree Trust Fund since October 2025.
The City’s Public Works department uses GIS mapping data to track gaps in the urban tree canopy, urban heat islands, and areas of the city with low tree cover to target plantings in areas that would benefit from additional shade.
“We use that data to help drive the decisions we make about targeting our resources and help increase the livability of our city one tree at a time,” Reeves said.
Dan Lambe, Chief Executive of the Arbor Day Foundation, called the recognition a testament to the community’s unwavering commitment to the planting, care and celebration of trees.
“In an era when cities are facing increasing challenges related to air quality and public health, nurturing urban forests has never been more important,” Lambe said. “By prioritizing tree stewardship, you’ve not only helped enhance Pensacola’s livability, but you’ve also invested in a healthier, more sustainable future for you resident.”
The Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA Program is operated in partnership with the National Association of State Foresters and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. The program began in 1976. To earn Tree City USA designation, a city must uphold four core standards including maintain a tree board or department, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry, participating in an Arbor Day celebration, and having a community tree ordinance.
Additional protections for Pensacola’s largest heritage trees could come to City Council for review later this summer. Pensacola City Councilman Jared Moore has been working with Reeves on additional revisions to the ordinance to further strengthen protections for the City’s largest trees.
“There’s a real cost to the community when we lose one of these heritage trees, I’d like to make sure that that cost is covered,” Moore said. “I think it is the prudent thing to do as stewards of the public good to take a clear-eyed look at the tree ordinance to make sure everything still is calibrated the way it was intended.”
Among the new protections being brought for consideration:
- a $1,000 application fee for applications seeking removal of one or more 40+ inch Live Oaks (Quercus virginiana).
- Inch-for-inch replacement requirements.
- Mitigation fee updates ($500 per required replacement diameter at breast height (DBH) inch that cannot be replanted on site, plus an additional $1,500 mature canopy mitigation fee for each 40+ inch DBH Live Oak).
- Residential mitigation caps (maintains a $1,500 mitigation cap per protected tree removed for small, developed residential properties and creates a $3,000 mitigation cap per 40+ inch DBH Live Oak removed; City right-of-way trees are not capped).
- Clarification of protected tree retention credits (retention credits are available only for proposed development sites, not already-developed property or City rights-of-way; total credits cannot exceed 50% of otherwise applicable mitigation, and mature canopy mitigation fees remain due)
- Expanded uses of the Tree Trust Fund, including reasonable staffing, professional services, and program costs.
