Sources & Data

The 2011 Indiana UTC Summary Report presents Gary's canopy at 24%, derived from the 2010 CRTI/NIRPC regional i-Tree Landscape analysis. This is the most recent city-level figure publicly available. The same report identified 49% plantable space and 25% impervious surface. Gary has not commissioned an updated assessment as of February 2026.

The $14 million figure reflects a 2021 ISA-certified arborist inventory of Gary's park trees conducted by The Nature Conservancy, commissioned through the IDNR Lake Michigan Coastal Program. This covers park trees only, not the entire urban forest. No citywide annual benefit total (as produced by a full i-Tree Eco run) was found for Gary.

NIRPC/CRTI analysis found Gary's average land surface temperature was 4.32 degrees C above the regional mean, reflecting the urban heat island effect driven by heavy industrial land use (39%), low canopy, and high impervious surface cover. Converted to Fahrenheit range: approximately 7-8 degrees F above surrounding region. This is a heat island differential, not a canopy cooling benefit per se.

The 2011 Indiana UTC report found 49% of Gary's land area is plantable space, meaning it lacks canopy but is biophysically capable of supporting trees. Gary's total land area is approximately 50 square miles. No individual site count exists. CommuniTree tracks planting locations via GIS but does not publish a vacant-sites inventory.

Aggregated from 92 Census block groups. 1 priority areas (TES < 60).

Mean difference between current canopy coverage and recommended goal across all block groups.

Calculated by applying USDA Forest Service rate constants to canopy area data from American Forests. Carbon uses 0.28 kg C/m²/yr (Nowak et al., 2013); stormwater uses 7.3 gal/m²/yr. Tools like i-Tree Eco and Tree Equity Score use local models that account for precipitation, species, and leaf area, so their figures will differ. These estimates are designed for consistent comparison across cities, not as a replacement for a site-specific tree inventory.