The City of Burien has received a grant from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative to evaluate its urban forestry program and assess the current condition of the city’s urban forest, according to information released by the city.
The grant will benchmark Burien’s work against the SFI Urban and Community Forest Sustainability Standard and help identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges.
The findings will inform future efforts through the Green Burien Partnership, including the city’s goal to increase tree canopy coverage to 40 percent by 2038.
The city said the funding will support community engagement to help shape priorities moving forward.
Residents are being asked to share feedback through an online survey about what matters most to them regarding Burien’s trees and forests.
Responses will help guide how the city cares for trees and determine next steps.
The survey is anonymous, though participants must provide their name and email to be entered in a drawing for a $50 gift card.
The city noted that trees are not equitably distributed across Burien and said the planning effort aims to address disparities stemming from past planning decisions.
The survey is expected to take 10 to 15 minutes to complete:
Take The Survey Here
Queremos saber su opinión: ¿Qué es lo que más le importa de los árboles y bosques de Burien? La ciudad de Burien está analizando detenidamente cómo cuidamos los árboles en nuestra comunidad. Sus respuestas nos ayudarán a guiar nuestros próximos pasos.https://t.co/8UHiL159u4
— City of Burien, WA (@Burien) December 2, 2025
The current Tree Canopy Policy is far too restricted AGAINST property owners in Burien !!! The mandatory costs imposed on Property Owners to have an independant Arborist survey the tree(s) you want to remove with no guarantee the city arborist will allow the tree to be removed no matter what the report says can cost over $1k ! I still have a dangerous tree I want to remove and cannot get it removed because the CITY considers it a legacy tree ! UNTIL it damages my neighbors home or property or worse the city will not allow it’s removal !
Then I feel the City should be liable for any damages for ignoring the professional assessment of the trees condition, and reimbursement to you for good faith efforts to protect your and others property/lives. Danger trees kill, if it was on City property or park it would be firewood already for liability and potential legal negligence.
“The city noted that trees are not equitably distributed across Burien and said the planning effort aims to address disparities stemming from past planning decisions.” ???? Planning decisions ? you mean like what the current planning department has implemented for zoning with 3,500 sq ft lots that have no room from sizable trees? Or the the planning departments ignoring R1 zoning for existing critical environmental areas ? In the name of equity the planning department is promoting deforestation of existing tree canopy in the name of equity. You cant make this stuff up and it is right out of the progressive playbook of contradictions.