A Brief History of San Francisco’s Urban Forest

View from the Call Building toward Civic Center by Dietrich H. Wulzen 6/17/1900. DigitalSF, San Francisco Public Library.

A brief history of San Francisco’s urban forest! Pre-colonization: San Francisco’s natural landscape consists of sand dunes, grasses, shrubs, and very few trees.

Mid-to-late 1800s: Large groves of trees are planted in areas that later become parks.

Pre-1950s: The majority of streets have few or no trees.

1950-70s: 100,000 street trees are planted by the City.

1981: Street tree planting halts because of City budget cuts. Friends of the Urban Forest is founded by concerned residents who organize community-based plantings.

2026: Friends of the Urban Forest celebrates 45 years of planting over 63,000 trees in San Francisco, almost half of the City’s tree canopy.