The Economic and Environmental Benefits of Urban Trees
From the region's pine forests and bottomland hardwoods to the street and yard trees that grace our neighborhoods, each tree in the eight-county region surrounding the city of Houston is an integral part of the region's tree cover. Houston's Regional Forest: Structure Functions Values represents the latest effort to quantify the green infrastructure of the region and is the first report of its kind in Texas. Local leaders can use this new information to help craft effective programs and policies that will sustain tree cover in the region for generations to come. A sample of the findings is included here:Major Findings & Conclusions
Houston's regional forest provides impressive value to its citizens:- The replacement cost of the region's 663 million trees is valued at over $205 billion.
- Trees store $721 million worth of carbon.
- Trees generate $456 million worth of environmental benefits annually - amounting to $109 per person per year.
- Trees save $131 million in residential energy costs and avoided power plant emissions each year - almost $90 per household.
- Houston's trees remove over 60,000 tons of air pollution per year.
- Most trees are small. Only 30 percent of the region's trees are five inches in diameter or greater, but they generate over 60 percent of total environmental benefits.
- Large trees are particularly valuable. Very large trees - 20 inches diameter or greater - contribute 90 percent of the $205 billion replacement value of the regional forest.
- Urban trees work harder. The average urban tree stores 75% more carbon and has a 76% higher replacement value than the average rural tree.
- Land cover in 2000 consisted of roughly one-half Agriculture/Range, one-quarter Forest, and one-quarter Urban.
- Between 1992 and 2000, Forest cover classes declined by 17 percent - a decrease of 486 square miles - resulting in a net loss of over 78 million trees.
- Chinese tallow is now the single most common tree species in the region, at 23 percent of all trees.
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