City Council Extends Urban Forest Plan Timeline Again — What’s Taking So Long?

Fresno City Council voted March 21, 2024, to extend a consultant contract for the second time to finish work on an Urban Forest Management Plan — a project that began nearly two years earlier in July 2022.

The vote gave Dudek, the consulting firm hired to write the plan, another three months to June 30, 2024, to complete what was supposed to be a 40-year roadmap for managing the city’s trees. The extension came after the council had already granted one extension in December 2023 through March 31, 2024.

Staff told the council the final draft “required a significant number of modifications prior to public review” — though the report doesn’t spell out what those modifications were or why the initial draft fell short.

The plan is meant to guide how Fresno cares for its urban trees, recommend improvements to current city policies, and set direction for the next four decades. Staff said they were preparing for a two-week public review period before bringing the final version back to the council for adoption.

The Breakdown

• Original contract: Approved by council July 21, 2022, hiring Dudek to create an Urban Forest Management Plan
• First extension: Approved December 7, 2023, pushing the deadline to March 31, 2024
• Second extension: Approved March 21, 2024, pushing the deadline to June 30, 2024 — three months more
• Reason given: Final draft needed “a significant number of modifications” before public review

What This Means for You

When a project stretches two years past its start date and needs multiple extensions to finish, that’s a question about what you’re getting for your vote. You elected the council that approved this contract, approved the extensions, and will ultimately vote to adopt whatever plan comes back. The recurring delays and the unexplained “significant modifications” are your signal to pay attention when the final plan does reach the public review period — you deserve to know what needed fixing, whether the fixes actually happened, and whether the finished product justifies the wait.

What to Watch

The city didn’t state in this March 2024 report what the original contract was worth, how much these extensions cost, or what the total public investment in this plan has been. That’s a real gap. A 40-year plan sounds comprehensive, but a plan is only as good as the city’s actual commitment to carry it out — and Fresno’s urban tree canopy is measurably thinner and more unequal across neighborhoods than many comparable cities. Watch for whether this final plan comes with real funding, staffing, and enforcement mechanisms attached, or whether it’s another document that sits on a shelf while the tree canopy keeps shrinking where it’s needed most.