The Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course, which dated back to the 1950s, was in need of renovation. Goals of the renovation project included incorporating 7.4 acres of the golf course into a flood reduction project and remodeling the course with a design more in keeping with the native landscape and the Baylands Nature Preserve, which surrounds the golf course to the east, covering nearly 2,000 acres. The renovation required the removal of many trees and it was necessary to understand the environmental contribution of those trees in order to make a successful plan for mitigation.
Urban Ecos provided the following services:
- Calculation of the existing benefits of the trees slated for removal. i-Tree software was used to quantify air quality benefits, greenhouse gas sequestration, and stormwater management.
- Estimation of the future benefits to be provided by the replacement trees.
- Qualitative comparison of other differences between existing and proposed plantings, such as change in irrigation demand, replacement of nonnative with native species, development of a more functional ecosystem.
- Description of opportunities for mitigating the lost benefits.
The final report can be seen here at the City of Palo Alto's website.