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PAST ACTIVITIES
1. Community Forest Information System (CFIS)
2. Tree Ordinance and Policy Recommendations Community Forest Information System (CFIS): The Athens-Clarke County CFIS was developed over a period of 3 years. As an initiative of the CTC, the CFIS was initially designed as a simple cover and change analysis study in a modest attempt to gain basic information on the distribution, composition and condition of the county’s community forest resources. The original cover type map was developed from data acquired from the Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper on June 1, 2000 and identified12 labeled land and forest classes. Five of the labeled classes are distinct forest cover types. Four of those, dense pine, light pine, hardwood and pine-hardwood represented the significant (25% crown closure or more) canopy (crown) cover in the county as of June 1, 2000. A fifth “scattered” class included cutover lands and abandoned farmland with insignificant (less than 25% crown closure) canopy cover in the county. The significant canopy cover as of June 1, 2000 made up some 56 percent of the county’s land area (77,579 acres). This is in contrast to an estimated 59 percent as of January 10, 1990 and 61 percent as of October 10, 1980 (a 5 percent loss over 20 years).
The insignificant forest cover classes accounted for 21 percent of the area in 2000, 17 percent in 1990 and 16 percent in 1980 (a 5 percent increase in 20 years). Much of this change was due to cutover and abandoned forest, and farmlands that seem to be on the increase throughout the county. In addition to the forest cover classes, seven non-forest labels were recognized including the open land classes of agriculture, bare soil, turf and kudzu (19% of the A-CC area), and the industrial/commercial classes of buildings and impervious surfaces (including wide transportation corridors), and water. These areas made up some 4 percent of the total land area in 2000. An update of the land cover in Athens-Clarke County was done from data acquired on April 23, 2003. Analysis concluded that significant forest cover (as defined for the 2000 data) constituted some 54 percent of the county’s land area, down from the 56 percent estimated in 2000. The 2 percent loss over three years was double the yearly loss shown between 1980 (61%) and 2000. Much of this change was due to increased development (1,300 acres, more than twice the size of the airport) and cutover forestland. To see the current 2003 cover map, more detail on specific areas of the county, and a change map showing tree loss and gain, click here. Finally, to see a list of attributes and link to their definitions, and to read Highlights and Discussion of the entire Community Forest Information System (CFIS), click here. Shortly after her inauguration in 2003, Mayor Heidi Davison challenged the CTC to put forward recommendations leading to the development of workable tree ordinance alternatives insuring the trees of Athens-Clarke County are properly weighed in the land use and development decision-making process. While it is easy to say, “lets have a tree ordinance", it is quite something else to accomplish it. To be successful, tree ordinance recommendations must be scientifically grounded, have overall public support, be workable and enforceable. As a preliminary step, thorough review and public comment were solicited. If you will click here you can see three examples of questions the CTC posed to the public and private sectors. The focus groups included both developers and citizens of Athens-Clarke County. A third questionnaire was designed for the various trade shows and display venues the CTC participated in during the year. All this preliminary activity culminated in a “Tree Ordinance Round Table”. The Round Table was a luncheon-catered four and a half hour presentation and discussion with regional urban and community resource managers discussing the pros and cons of their current local tree ordinances. Ordinance documents available for download: (opens in a separate window) |
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