On August 10, 2020, Cedar Rapids, IA, was hit by a record-breaking derecho (straight-wind) storm, with gusts hitting 140 mph. In just one hour, the “Emerald City” lost two-thirds of its canopy. Within a week of the storm, the city manager asked Jeff Speck to lead the effort to bring back the city’s trees. Speck built a team with regional nonprofit Trees Forever and Confluence landscape architects to create ReLeaf Cedar Rapids, a plan intended to both organize the reforesting of the city and catalyze public support around this mission.

Like many Speck Dempsey efforts, ReLeaf was approached as an opportunity to reinvent its project type. After deep research into successful urban forestry plans, the team found much that worked but also real room for improvement. The heart of the document, the eight ReLeaf Rules, runs counter to conventional urban forestry practice in several key ways.

Designed and distributed as a readable magazine format, the plan has instrumentally raised public awareness and funding, including a $6M USDA grant. It has also been lauded for its replanting prioritization algorithm, which focuses on both visual impact and social equity. Much of the plan’s language is generic and offered as pro-bono shareware for similar plans nationwide. The plan can be downloaded at bit.ly/4gosYED.