Cookeville officials will utilize a newly developed heat risk assessment map to target future tree plantings in vulnerable neighborhoods.
Public Works Director Mary Beth Elrod said the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Urban and Community Forestry selected Cookeville as one of eleven municipalities with populations under fifty thousand to receive the grant-funded analysis.
“So hopefully in the years to come as we focus our tree plantings and tree grant funding, we can use this map to decide where we need to focus tree plantings,” Elrod said. “And it also helps us be more competitive in the grant funding to get more trees approved for us.”
The UT Chattanooga Center for Applied Geospatial Data Science conducted the research using satellite imagery, artificial intelligence, and thermal infrared sensors. The resulting data combined surface temperatures with census blocks to identify areas with vulnerable populations that lack adequate shade.
“You have to do three criteria to get the Tree City USA award every year and then you have a point-scoring system for the Growth Award every year,” Elrod said. “But it mainly includes that we maintain a active tree ordinance, we have a tree care community advocacy group, we celebrate Arbor Day yearly, and we spend at least $2 per capita on growing and sustaining the urban and community forest.”
Elrod presented the findings of a state tree canopy and heat map study to the council.
During the meeting, Cookeville received the Tree City USA award for the thirty-seventh consecutive year. The local energy department also secured the Tree Line Utility designation for the twenty-fifth year, while the municipality earned the Growth Award for the fifteenth consecutive year.
“So in the 2025 fiscal year, we spent $1.3 million and that included planting 168 trees here in the city limits,” Elrod said. “We pruned 3,518 trees and we removed 101 trees.”
The recent financial investments easily surpassed the minimum requirements for the national forestry recognitions. The expenditures equated to a $35.53 per capita investment in urban forestry maintenance and planning.
“So this is what they’ve provided for now and we should be getting another community-friendly report with maps that we can share to the community in the future,” Elrod said.
Residents can currently view the data and search their specific addresses on the Tennessee Community Heat Risk Assessment 2025 website.