Austin's Urban Forests

Austin Energy works to protect and expand the tree canopy throughout our city. These efforts are widely recognized as contributing to the health of our urban forests.

Both directly and through programs like NeighborWoods, Austin Energy funds the local planting of more than 6,000 trees a year.

The National Arbor Day Foundation has designated Austin Energy a Tree Line USA since 2002.

Oak Wilt Prevention
Austin Energy’s Certified Arborists and Foresters recognize the danger Oak Wilt poses to our urban forests. They follow pruning best practices to combat its spread, including all procedures currently recommended by the City of Austin and the Texas Forest Service.

Steps Austin Energy takes to help prevent Oak Wilt spread include:

	Taking care not to schedule routine maintenance work on oak trees in confirmed and “at-risk” Oak Wilt areas from Mid-February through June, when the Nitidulidae beetle is active—except when we must prune to prevent imminent outages, restore power, and ensure public safety
	Sterilizing all pruning equipment before performing any work on oak trees
	Painting all pruning “wounds” on oak trees year round