“We’re excited to announce the 2016 Tree Report Card is released! The Tree Report Card is where we analyze the state of D.C.’s urban forest and grade its progress towards our 40 percent tree canopy goal. And boy oh boy has it been a banner year for trees – we are extremely proud to announce that D.C. received its highest mark yet – an A-! Gains in tree protection and health, coupled with a strong performance in tree planting coverage, helped the District earn a significantly higher grade than prior Tree Report Cards. The overall grade given is combination of four metrics: Tree Coverage (A), Tree Health (B-), Tree Planting (A+), and Tree Protection (B). While we celebrate the strides made, it’s key to note we did not get here alone. That is where the theme for this year’s Tree Report Card — partnership — comes from. Since the early days of all-volunteer city-wide street tree inventories our partnerships have expanded significantly to include various supporters. Of all our partners, a special thanks goes out to D.C. Department of Transportation’s Urban Forestry Division, the Department of Energy and the Environment, and the D.C. City Council and Mayor Bowser for all their support. [I am an avid supporter of Casey Trees and encourage all who care about DC to participate in any way that you can to increase our tree canopy, improve our air quality, provide habit for our creatures, and green spaces for all. Thank you.]