Madison Tree Canopy
The advocacy and care dedicated to Madison trees strengthens both human and wildlife vibrancy. The Madison Shade Tree Management Board meets monthly to build connections between the town and the public on the value of trees to our community. The town celebrates Arbor Day annually in service to trees and one another, and was once recognized with a Tree City USA award.
Scientific monitoring of tree canopy contributes to our stewardship of trees and our understanding of pressures faced by local ecosystems. The map below presents the most recent estimates, generated by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium, on the percent of land area that receives tree canopy cover. In Madison, local canopy cover ranges between zero and 91 percent. Darker green colors indicate greater canopy cover.
Overall, 38 percent of Madison’s land area, or 1,032 acres, is covered by tree canopy. This value declined from 2001 measures, which found 48 percent canopy coverage. Declines in canopy were not equally distributed. The southeast quadrant of Madison has the highest coverage, 42 percent in 2016, but also the greatest losses, 108 fewer acres of canopy cover since 2001.
Understanding changes in tree cover can help us understand overall trends in landscape changes that are happening. Additionally, measurement can help strengthen accountability and environmental policies, such as the shade tree ordinance, to preserve and protect trees. Future work in restoration and conservation can also consider the new Tree Equity Index that finds several census blocks in Madison in need of attention for prioritized tree planting.
About the Data Source:
Percent tree canopy cover (TCC, 2016) from the National Land Cover Database 2016 was created by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium. The MRLC is a partnership between several federal agencies including, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), NASA, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The resolution, or pixel size, for this data set is 30 meters. The data layer shown in the map above is updated and distributed by the USDA Forest Service Geospatial Technology Applications Center. The dataset can be found online here.
To download a one-page slide for this summary on tree canopy cover, click here.
Access a full screen version of the embedded map, along with the detailed description, here.
Madison Wildland Urban Interface (WUI)
