The Challenge

Before the storm, Cedar Rapids was already working to grow its canopy, which then covered about 24 percent of the city’s land area. The goal was to bring this total up to 30 percent. That represented a 25 percent increase in tree cover, an ambitious but achievable goal. Post-derecho, the estimated two-thirds loss of all canopy would suggest that trees now shade only 8 percent of the city’s land area. Older, larger trees caused much of the canopy loss. That can be seen as good news; it means that many of the younger trees that endured, and will grow the city’s canopy, have already been planted…they just need time to mature.

Different areas of town were more badly hit than others. Downtown, where most trees are smaller and sheltered by buildings, they fared relatively well, but areas to the immediate south, west, and northeast suffered badly. Also hard hit were some areas including Cedar Hills on the west side of town, the neighborhood just south of Grant Elementary, and north of Collins Road between Edgewood and I-380, to name a few. Map 1 depicts the areas with the highest tree loss.

As in most cities, the pre-derecho tree canopy in Cedar Rapids was distributed inequitably. Downtown lost fewer trees but had the least to begin with. Other areas, like the neighborhoods surrounding Linwood Cemetery and north of Collins Road between Edgewood and I-380, suffered the double-whammy of high percentage loss and a canopy that was already quite sparse. See Map 2 for the areas that had the least tree cover pre-derecho.

In addition, maps have determined that some of the most vulnerable areas in terms of unemployment, crowded housing, lack of vehicle access, and non-English speaking households lost the most canopy. This unfortunate coincidence means that, in post-derecho Cedar Rapids, poor canopy and corresponding heat-island impacts track more closely with social vulnerability than was previously the case.

As part of the public input process to determine guiding principles, the people of Cedar Rapids felt strongly that social equity should drive the plans to rebuild its canopy, so maps of pre-derecho canopy, derecho tree loss, and social vulnerability, were used to help determine where the City plants first.

Percent Trees Lost to Derecho by Block Group

View detailed map with key in the Appendices section of CityofCR.com/Releaf

Pre-Derecho Percent Trees Cover by Block Group (2009)

View detailed map with key in the Appendices section of CityofCR.com/Releaf