SF is cutting down trees
San Francisco has one of the lowest tree canopy coverages of any major U.S. city.

The city wants to turn the city into a literal and cultural desert by killing beautiful old trees. Most don't get replaced, and if they are replaced, it's with tiny trees that die within a few years.

The city tracks every street tree in its public Street Tree Inventory — watch them disappear.

What is happening right now

  • Nearly 100 trees are being cut down on the Embarcadero. Crews started chainsawing 97 of the 113 trees in Embarcadero Plaza and Sue Bierman Park in September 2026 — ginkgos, poplars, cherries, olives, and mature palms across from the Ferry Building — for a $40 million park renovation. The city says regrading for accessibility requires the removals and promises replacements by fall 2027. [SFGATE] [NBC Bay Area] [NY Post]
  • Lower Haight: mature ficus trees put on “emergency removal” by mistake. In early 2026, Public Works slated seven mature ficus trees on Waller Street by Cafe Réveille for emergency removal with no public process. Neighborhood pushback forced a second review, which found only three were actually hazardous; those three were approved for removal with just two replacements. Neighbors first saved these same trees from removal in 2016. [Hoodline] [SF Public Works] [Mission Local]
  • Rec & Park illegally cut down UN Plaza trees to keep a donor party on schedule. In early 2025, the Recreation and Parks Department removed London plane trees at UN Plaza during the legally required appeal window, admitting to the Board of Appeals that it broke the law so the new skate park’s grand opening for donors would go ahead as planned. No fine was ever imposed. [Tenderloin Voice] [SF Forest Alliance]
  • City Hall voted to weaken tree protections. In September 2026, the Board of Supervisors voted 7–4 to advance Mayor Lurie and Supervisor Wong’s File 251211: developers of most projects can pay a $2,590 fee instead of planting a required street tree, and the public loses the right to independently appeal city-initiated “hazardous” tree removals. About $4.5 million in previously collected tree fees remains unspent, and SF has fewer street trees today than in 2017. [KQED] [Mission Local] [SF Chronicle] [Westside Observer]
  • A little-known rule is quietly erasing whole blocks of trees. Public Works Order 187246 bans replanting street trees on sidewalks narrower than 7.5 feet, based on a disputed reading of accessibility law. The “Concrete Over Canopy” study projects it will wipe out 24% of SoMa’s remaining trees (764 trees) and 19% of Glen Park’s, in the neighborhoods that need shade the most. [Streetsblog] [Glen Park Association]

People trying to help

Mission Verde — a neighborhood partnership with Public Works keeping the Mission’s street trees alive. Here is a 3-minute explainer video on how it came to be.

Tree graveyard