The Capital Area Regional Planning Commission (CARPC) and the Dane County Tree Canopy Collaborative launched Growing Shade, an interactive web application designed to preserve and expand the Greater Madison area’s tree canopy.
The application combines demographic, environmental, public health, and socioeconomic data to illustrate how tree canopy cover differs across Dane County and how it has changed over time. Users can view data for any census block group, city, town, or village in Dane County, as well as Madison neighborhoods, and create custom maps, charts, and reports.
Benefits of a healthy tree canopy include cooler temperatures, erosion control, and flood mitigation. Trees also absorb carbon from the atmosphere, helping to counteract greenhouse gas emissions.
A recent analysis by CARPC and the Tree Canopy Collaborative found that, on average, villages and towns across Dane County lost about 12% of their canopy coverage from 2010 to 2017, with decreases up to 38% in some places. This loss is primarily due to disease, but lack of maintenance and inconsistent development policies likely also play a role.
To learn more, click here.
