Street tree inventories, just the start

On Tuesday, Dec. 18, Angie DiSalvo of Portland Parks & Recreation’s Urban Forestry Division presented the most recent round of Street Tree Inventory findings to the Friends of Trees staff. 2012 marks the third year Angie has coordinated neighborhood inventories. So far nine Portland neighborhoods have identified and tallied up their street trees.

To take a look at the impressive reports compiled from this data click HERE. The purposes of Angie’s presentation at FOT were to share the valuable information collected over the past summer and to provide a better understanding of how the efforts of both groups’ volunteers might complement one another.

–  Good diversity in all three neighborhoods—over 85 species represented in each, with over 100 species identified in total.

–  Maples were over-represented in all three neighborhoods—over 30% of all trees in these areas.

–  Street trees provide over $1.2 million in environmental and aesthetic benefits in these neighborhoods alone.

That said, collecting and analyzing tree data is just the beginning of the great work being performed by tree inventory teams. From this initial groundwork, volunteers continue to work together to craft a tree plan specific to their own neighborhoods. Then, city staff and community partners, such as Friends of Trees, can help these tree teams plan and execute tree plantings, tree care events or other activities in support of local trees.

Neighborhoods to be inventoried are selected through a competitive application process.  Click HERE to learn how to organize a tree team for your neighborhood.  Deadline to apply is January 15, 2013.