Tree Inventory Program for Trees in Clearwater Rights-of-Way
Published on August 04, 2025
New Tree Assessment and Inventory Program Has Concluded for 2025
The city of Clearwater is working hard to keep the city’s tree canopy healthy, safe and beautiful for our residents. This includes monitoring existing trees throughout the city for disease, decay and structural integrity.
The city began a tree assessment and inventory around the city starting March 10. The city’s Public Works Department is working with certified arborists to identify and prioritize tree maintenance in the interest of public safety. The inventory has concluded for 2025, and will resume in the spring of 2026.
Trees were only catalogued. This inventory will give us the opportunity to find out the health and structure of trees located in the city's right of way, as well as any low limbs the city needs to address. Part of the tree inventory process is tagging the tree with a numbered tag, which residents will later be able to look up on the city’s website.
Tree inventories use a scale to assess the tree’s overall structural strength and systemic health. Certified arborists examine elements of structure, such as the presence of cavities, decayed wood, rubbing branches, and other features, to determine if the tree is in need of maintenance. If it is rated at zero, it is dead. If it is rated at one, it is dying, severely declining, hazardous or is harboring a communicable disease.
View Tree Inventory Program for 2025
Clearwater is a Tree City USA
The city of Clearwater has been recognized as a Tree City USA for 42 years, and Clearwater is one of 3,600 communities nationwide that participate in the Tree City USA program. The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation and administered in Florida by the Division of Forestry.
Participating communities have demonstrated a commitment to caring for and managing their public trees. To qualify, a city must meet certain criteria which includes establishment of an advisory board, enactment of a municipal tree ordinance, celebration of Arbor Day annually, and maintenance of a community forestry program with an annual budget of at least $2 per capita.
What It Takes To Be a Tree City USA