We all recognize the personal pleasure and beauty green spaces and trees provide in an otherwise metropolitan setting. Community trees are not decorative. Trees provide a host of financial, health and environmental benefits.

Sarasota County features a naturescape defined by more than one hundred tree species, including coastal mangroves, bald cypress, native and exotic palm trees, pine groves, oak hammocks, expressive crape myrtles and majestic, ancient live oaks. The diversity and health of our urban forest supports a thriving, vibrant habitat, filters our environment and has contributed in making our county a center for development.

The Forestry Division was formed in 1987 to manage these resources and conserve them for the future.

We encourage you to explore this site to learn all the mysteries, dispel the myths and uncover the unseen riches of your urban forest.

We would like to acknowledge the generosity of Dr. Edward Gilman, University of Florida/IFAS and the Florida chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture. – Demetra McBride, Forestry Manager