RELEAF PLANNING PROCESS

Many of the recommendations in the 2012 City of Pittsburgh Urban Forest Master Plan (read the full plan at www.treepittsburgh.org) include increasing tree canopy in lower canopy neighborhoods through connecting and engaging the community. To better work with the unique challenges that exist in Pittsburgh's diverse neighborhoods, Tree Pittsburgh targeted neighborhoods to create an urban forest plan specific to the community’s needs and vision.

The Greater Hazelwood area is defined as Hazelwood and Glen Hazel The Greater Hazelwood Neighborhood Plan (read the full plan at https://pittsburghpa gov/dcp/ghnp) identifies needs that could benefit from increased trees. The Infrastructure section of the plan specifically mentions the need to improve air quality, improve public greenspaces, and decrease sewer overflow. Planting more trees would help to improve air quality, public greenspaces, and stormwater management

Greater Hazelwood serves as a transit corridor that ushers folks into the City of Pittsburgh Second Avenue is the main thoroughfare of Hazelwood and is a continuation of State Route 885. This heavily used highway through Hazelwood could benefit from trees to combat the exhaust of commuters’ vehicles and show visitors that there is an investment in tree equity in the neighborhood.

Greater Hazelwood plays a role in the larger scope of the ecosystem The ecological benefits of Greater Hazelwood’s trees expand to the Monongahela River Valley There are still active coke plants in the Monongahela River Valley, and Greater Hazelwood’s trees work to clean the air affected by this pollution Greater Hazelwood has a significant amount of greenspace in the Hazelwood Greenway; this asset provides many ecological benefits to the community and it is important to protect and grow these benefits. The growing threat of climate change is creating an even more urgent need to invest in the trees of Greater Hazelwood. Greater Hazelwood is prepared to help Pittsburgh work towards climate change goals by perpetuating the goals of ReLeaf Greater Hazelwood

WHAT DO WE HAVE?

Since 2005 the City of Pittsburgh, along with many partners, has been collecting valuable data on Pittsburgh’s urban forest. The following summarizes Greater Hazelwood’s urban forest through data obtained from Urban Tree Canopy Assessments in 2010 and 2015. Reviewing and analyzing the Urban Tree Canopy data is the first step in the goal-setting process. This allows stakeholders to understand the current state of the tree canopy and set goals for growing the urban forest.

Tree canopy is the collective coverage of trees in an area Greater Hazelwood’s tree canopy is comprised of a variety of parks, greenspaces, residential trees, and street trees Residents of Greater Hazelwood experience benefits from their tree canopy such as improved air quality and stormwater management These benefits expand beyond Greater Hazelwood to Pittsburgh’s urban forest

Treevitalize Trees

TreeVitalize is a public-private partnership to help restore tree canopy coverage; educate citizens about planting trees as an act of caring for our environment; and build capacity among local governments to understand, protect, and restore their urban trees This partnership exists between the Allegheny County Parks, the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Tree Pittsburgh, and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Trees from the TreeVitalize program can be found along Second Avenue and at the entrance of the Hazelwood Greenway.

Street Trees

Sidewalks in Greater Hazelwood connect the neighborhood by creating safe pathways across the comm sidewalks are often home to street trees ranging from newly planted trees to trees that have been aroun early years of the neighborhood. Newly planted trees follow standards to ensure that the right trees are right space These standards are used to ensure that as more trees are planted along sidewalks, there a negative impacts Historically trees planted along sidewalks have not been held to these standards resul upheaved sidewalks that are unsafe to use. This also creates issues for the homeowners, as it is their re maintain the sidewalk in the City of Pittsburgh. By following the standards and planting the right tree in t we can reduce the impact of trees planted along sidewalks while increasing canopy coverage around the

Greater Hazelwood Parks

Greater Hazelwood is home to neighborhood parks including Blair Street Park, Bud Hammer Playground Park, Elizabeth Street Park, Gladstone Field, Lytle Land, and Lewis Parklet These parks feature a variety amenities such as sports courts, a spray park, and playgrounds. Greater Hazelwood parks vary in their tr and are potential sites for future plantings. A recent addition to Greater Hazelwood parks includes a park from the Carnegie Library in 2021 Burgwin Park received 6 new balled and burlapped trees with the hel volunteers from POORLAW, and the youth football team the Hazelwood Cobras in 2022

Greater Hazelwood Greenspaces

The Community Garden on Chatsworth Street offers the community an opportunity to grow crops in a ra This community resource provides space for residents who may not have their own space to connect w The Community Garden is run by Hazelwood Initiative Other community gardens include Every Buddy’s Glen Hazel Garden, and the Victory Garden

WHAT DO WE HAVE?

The Hazelwood Greenway makes up a significant source of trees for the Greater Hazelwood area The Greenway is made up of parcels that are separated by residentowned lots and roadways These parcels span across Greater Hazelwood and are divided by Hazelwood Avenue. East Elizabeth Street provides access to the main trail through the Greenway. The Greenway is the site of the first planting project directly related to the Greater Hazelwood ReLeaf efforts In 2021, Hazelwood Initiative and the City of Pittsburgh’s Sustainability Planning Department lead the way with grant funding Meetings were held virtually and in person at the Hazelwood Greenway with Hazelwood Initiative, members of Pittsburgh’s Sustainability Planning Department, Tree Pittsburgh, Allegheny GoatScape, and Landforce to create a cohesive tree planting plan In the fall of 2021, 150 trees were planted by Tree Pittsburgh and Landforce to help shade out future invasive species. A second planting event was led by Tree Pittsburgh with volunteers from the Greater Hazelwood area to plant 20 additional trees in the Hazelwood Greenway to help return native species along the main trail 2022 welcomed three planting efforts Volunteers planted 89 trees at the Elizabeth Street Entrance to the Greenway. Allegheny Goatscape cleared two additional plots of invasives where 127 trees were planted Hazelwood Green is a 178-acre plot of land that was previously the site of the J&L Corporation steel mill. This multi-use site is still in development, but currently features a walking path, parking, office space, and public open space. Future plans include connecting the community to the riverfront through additional public open space Continued community meetings with developers are helping to shape this space from a historical site to a neighborhood hub.

Calvary Cemetery is a 200-acre plot on the north side of Hazelwood The cemetery is home to many trees but has experienced loss due to storm damage. The cemetery supported 27.87% tree canopy in 2010; that percentage dropped to 26.76% in 2015. The map to the right demonstrates the canopy change of Calvary Cemetery from 2010 to 2015

The Riverfront runs between Hazelwood Green and the Monongahela River, but access to the river is nonexistent Residents’ desire to restore access to the river is captured in the Greater Hazelwood Community Plan Despite the lack of access for residents, the riverfront provides a habitat for native species.

Tree Adoptions

Greater Hazelwood hosted three tree adoption events in Hazelwood The first adoption event was held as a standalone event and 32 trees were adopted. The second event was held the weekend after Earth Day as part of a community celebration At this event, 117 trees were adopted A final adoption event was held Fall of 2022 where 95 trees were adopted These adoptions are valuable to the community as they allow homeowners to increase canopy coverage in their yards at no cost. Of the 261 trees adopted out, 212 went directly to Greater Hazelwood residents.

Tree Tenders

Tree Tenders is a course offered by Tree Pittsburgh to certify and train residents in a variety of courses Course topics include tree planting, pruning, pest and diseases, and how to utilize TreeVitalize as a resource for trees in their community. Greater Hazelwood residents had the opportunity to take the course for free, as an effort to increase the number of Tree Tenders in the neighborhood The course was held virtually in 2021 As a result, there are 8 new Tree Tenders in the Greater Hazelwood area These new Tree Tenders will be instrumental in future tree care events and assisting at other community greening events.