The newly ratified 2045 Comprehensive Plan may have one of its first additions as arborists in Tullahoma would like to see a tree map incorporated into the plan to guide the city on where trees need to be planted.

“It’s to help the parts of Tullahoma that would benefi t from tree coverage,” said Alderman Matthew Bird who first presented the idea of the tree map’s inclusion in the 2045 Plan when the document was being voted on. “It was a project that was funded by the Tennessee Department of Forestry.”

Mayor Lynn Sebourn clarified that the map is simply an informational graphic done by the University of Chattanooga that was doing heat map for different towns for free. “It’s a map showing which areas are hot and which areas that are not as hot due to tree cover.”

The mayor pointed out that adding the graphic to the 2045 Plan would not make it policy. It would simply be a tool for urban foresters to use.

City Forester Lyle Russell said a while back he found a vendor who was able to do an aerial pass over the city’s footprint, looking for hotspots. Russell said the scan was commissioned at first so he would have a better idea of where to plant trees around town. However, the aerial mapping was able to show the hotspots are.

“I can look on the map and see spots in town that are four degrees hotter on average and could benefit for tree coverage,” he said of the map.

Bird explained that the heat map overlaid census data for the city, showing demographics like income, those who own cars and age.