Culpeper Sunset. Image credit: Hugh Kenny

Virginia’s trees provide many economic, social, and ecological benefits:

• Trees stabilize temperatures in our cities by providing natural shade and creating a cooling effect, making it more comfortable for people to spend time outdoors. 
• Trees clean the air we breathe of pollutants that contribute to climate change and respiratory illnesses. 
• Trees help reduce stormwater impacts and localized flooding by holding soil in place, uptaking pollutants, and reducing erosion and sediment that pollute our waterways. 

Trees provide shade that saves families and businesses by reducing building cooling costs by up to 30% As Virginia faces rising temperatures and more rainfall, trees will help mitigate the costs from extreme heat events, storms, increased flooding, and pollution. 

Unfortunately, Virginia continues to lose trees at a rapid rate. Each year, roughly 10% of trees are replaced with impervious surfaces, like parking lots and roads, that limit the amount of water that enters the soil. Impervious surfaces transport excess runoff to storm sewers and streams, bringing harmful pollutants and increasing flood risk. Urban and suburban areas are now the fastest-growing source of pollution to our waters and will continue to harm water quality and public health. The loss of trees poses a significant threat to the well-being of all Virginians, especially those in our most vulnerable communities.

We need to find a way to protect or restore tree canopies lost to development. You can take a deeper dive into mitigating tree canopy loss in Our Common Agenda. To learn more, read our “Maximizing Tree Canopy” policy paper.

Legislators have introduced several bills to support tree canopy preservation and protection efforts. VCN has taken a position on the following of these bills:

Both HB 2630 and HB 2638 have crossed over and been assigned to the Senate Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources Committee. Reach out to your state senator to support HB 2630 and HB 2638!