What Urban Tree Foundation does

Urban Tree Foundation (UTF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1999 and headquartered in Visalia, California. It is dedicated to promoting and preserving the urban forest through education, planting, and tree care, and operates with a paid staff of three (Director Brian Kempf, Project Manager Tyson Carrol, Accounting Manager Teri Van Huss) supported by a five-member volunteer Board of Directors. The organization partners with public and private agencies to assist communities in becoming active participants in urban forest planting and maintenance, primarily throughout California's Central Valley.

UTF's core product is a library of 76 open-source, peer-reviewed CAD/PDF planting details and specifications covering planting, staking, planting soil modifications, inspection, correction, irrigation, and tree protection. The content was co-developed with Dr. Ed Gilman (University of Florida) and Jim Urban (FASLA) and is explicitly aligned with the ANSI A300 transplanting standard. All files are distributed free of charge through urbantree.org under a permissive license permitting use, editing, and incorporation into projects without attribution. Adjacent offerings include bilingual (English/Spanish) field Cue Cards, nursery tree quality specification documents, and a referral relationship with the UFEI SelecTree database.

The revenue model is structurally limited to three streams: grants (the site is explicitly funded by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Urban and Community Forestry Program), tiered membership/sponsorship fees ranging from $15 (student) to $1,000 (Gold business sponsorship), and tax-deductible donations. No revenue figures are disclosed. Primary users are landscape architects, engineers, contractors, municipalities, urban foresters, and arborists, with community members serving as a secondary persona supporting the membership program.

Name

Urban Tree Foundation

Legal name

Urban Tree Foundation

Website

https://urbantree.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Urban Tree Foundation is a Visalia, California-based 501(c)(3) non-profit that publishes free, peer-reviewed CAD/PDF planting specifications, bilingual field cue cards, and nursery tree quality documents for landscape architects, municipalities, arborists, and contractors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Visalia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Annual membership fees ranging from $15 (student/fixed income) to $1,000 (Gold Sponsorship), providing members with an Urban Tree Foundation T-shirt and community engagement in urban forestry programs.
2. Grants: Funding provided by California Department of Forestry (CDF) Urban Forestry Program for development of planting specifications and community programs.
3. Tax-Deductible Donations: Tax-deductible charitable contributions from individuals supporting urban forestry and community tree planting initiatives.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Urban Tree Foundation develops and distributes free, open-source tree planting technical resources for the green industry, including 76 CAD/PDF Planting Details and Specifications, bilingual Cue Cards for field use, and Nursery Tree Quality Documents. All specifications were co-developed with Dr. Ed Gilman (University of Florida) and Jim Urban (FASLA) and are grounded in the ANSI A300 transplanting standard. The organization also operates a tiered membership program to support community urban forestry initiatives.

Product overview

Urban Tree Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (founded 1999, Visalia, CA) that provides educational resources, technical specifications, and programs for urban forestry. The organization offers a portfolio of downloadable resources rather than a traditional software platform. Core offerings include: (1) Planting Details and Specifications — 76 CAD/PDF specifications across Planting, Staking, Planting Soil Modifications, Inspection, Correction, Irrigation, and Tree Protection categories, developed in collaboration with Dr. Ed Gilman and Jim Urban FASLA; (2) Cue Cards — bilingual pocket field guides for nursery tree quality, root management, planting, and pruning; (3) Nursery Tree Quality Documents — technical specifications for container-grown trees and nursery production strategies; and (4) Membership Program — tiered annual memberships supporting urban forest programs. All specifications are open source and freely editable.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Planting Details and Specifications A collection of 76 CAD-ready and PDF planting specifications organized into seven categories — Planting (14), Staking (4), Planting Soil Modifications (13), Inspection/Observation (5), Correction/Modification (4), Irrigation (33), and Tree Protection (3). Designed for landscape architects, engineers, architects, contractors, urban foresters, arborists, municipalities, and state agencies. All specifications are open source, free, and editable.
• Cue Cards Downloadable pocket-sized cards (3.5" x 8" format) designed for field use, covering nursery tree quality guidelines, root management, planting, and young tree pruning. Available in both English and Spanish.
• Nursery Tree Quality Documents Technical specifications and guidelines for the green industry, including 'Specification Guidelines for Container-grown Trees for California' (PDF) and 'Strategies for Growing a High-Quality Root System, Trunk, and Crown in a Container Nursery' (PDF).
• Membership Program Tax-deductible membership program supporting urban forestry, with tiered levels including Personal (Student/Fixed Income $15, Individual $35, Family $50, Sustaining $100) and Business sponsorships (Bronze $100, Silver $500, Gold $1,000). Members receive an Urban Tree Foundation T-shirt.

Quantifiable outcome

• All specifications free to use in projects without charge and without credit to Urban Tree Foundation

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Dr. Ed Gilman, University of FloridacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Ed Gilman collaborated with Urban Tree Foundation to develop modern, peer-reviewed planting specifications and details. He is a leading expert in arboriculture and urban tree care.
• Jim Urban, FASLAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJim Urban, a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, collaborated with Urban Tree Foundation to develop the planting specifications and details. He is a recognized expert in urban horticulture.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Bartlett Tree Experts: Large commercial tree care and consulting firm serving municipalities, commercial properties, and residential clients. Comparable in serving arborist and urban forestry customer segments but operates a much broader commercial service portfolio.
• Davey Resource Group: Commercial urban forestry consulting arm of The Davey Tree Expert Company. Comparable end market (urban forestry specs, tree inventories, municipal forestry programs) but operates as a for-profit consultancy at much larger scale.

Direct peers

• Friends of Trees: Pacific Northwest non-profit that plants trees in urban and rural areas through community engagement. Comparable programmatic focus on volunteer-driven tree planting and partnerships with municipalities.
• Casey Trees: Washington D.C.-based non-profit focused on urban tree planting, care, and education. Closely comparable to UTF in mission, programmatic structure, and education focus, though geographically concentrated in the DC metro area.
• TreePeople: Los Angeles-based non-profit focused on urban forestry, tree planting, and environmental education. Comparable mission to UTF in promoting urban tree canopy and community-based planting programs.
• American Forests: National non-profit focused on forest conservation and urban forestry. Comparable advocacy and education mission, with overlap in promoting tree planting standards and urban canopy expansion.
• Arbor Day Foundation: National 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to tree planting and care. Comparable mission to UTF but operates at significantly larger scale with corporate partnerships and a national footprint, offering a useful benchmark for how an urban forestry non-profit can scale.

Regional players

• TreesCharlotte: Charlotte, NC-based non-profit focused on tree planting and urban canopy preservation. Comparable community-driven urban forestry mission but operates in a different geographic market.

Others

• Sustainable Urban Forests Coalition: Coalition of non-profits and agencies advocating for urban forestry policy and funding. Adjacent enabling organization that influences the same policy and grant ecosystem UTF depends on.
• Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute (UFEI): Cal Poly-based research institute that operates SelecTree, an urban tree selection database. Already a UTF partner (UTF recommends SelecTree as its tree selection guide), making it the closest adjacent reference tool for the same user base of landscape architects and urban foresters.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/urban-tree-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Urban Tree Foundation