Web and Mobile Tree Inventory Software: Case Studies & Considerations by Ian Hanou, Founder, Plan-It Geo, ianhanou@planitgeo.com
I used to think tree inventory software
advanced software features like reports, queries, and work orders has never been so simple. All you need is a tablet or smartphone. You don’t need GPS or GIS hardware and software. You don’t even need to install a program from a CD or DVD because web and mobile software can be subscription-based, accessed through a web browser.
was laborious and even boring. Maybe that resonates with you, too. Just hearing the words “tree inventory software” might conjure up bad memories of expensive GPS units, a steep learning curve involving both new hardware and software, and cumbersome processes to format and transfer data. With advancements in web and mobile mapping technology, my opinion has changed. Milwaukee County Parks & Zoo and the Urban foresters are under increasing pres- City of Aspen, Colorado recently launched sure to be accountable, efficient, trans- online, web browser-based map and parent, and responsive to the public and database applications to manage their upper management. Fortunately, tree street and park trees. Their case studies inventory software no longer need be follow, after which I discuss some of the tedious, cost-prohibitive, or time-inten- features and functionality to look for in sive. Inventorying trees and using more tree inventory software.
Milwaukee County Parks and Zoo Alex Krutsch and Matthew Heritsch (Milwaukee County Zoo) and Ramsey Radakovich (Supervisor, Milwaukee County Parks)
The Milwaukee County Zoo’s
forestry program was initiated four years ago in order to better manage the Zoo’s heavily wooded, 200-acre (81 ha) property. The imminent threat of emerald ash borer (EAB), deferred maintenance of individual trees, and plans for new exhibits that would encroach upon the Zoo’s urban forest made it apparent that a tree inventory was needed. Our main goals were to gain a better understanding of species diversity, to locate the old growth individuals on the property, and to identify trees that posed a hazard
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to public safety or Zoo infrastructure. Having this information would allow us to make sound management decisions moving forward. In order to conduct an inventory that would meet our goals, the Zoo and County Parks developed a list of needs and requirements. We wanted a web-based system so that the information would be broadly accessible to Zoo administration, decision makers throughout Milwaukee County, and even the public at large. We also wanted a system that allowed for City Trees
Trees can be viewed in Google Street View.
unlimited users without additional licensing costs, and we sought the ability to update from the field in real time and across all interfaces. Lastly, we were hoping for a system that could quantify the benefits that our urban forest provides to the community. After reviewing the inventory software systems available, we chose Plan-It Geo’s Tree Plotter application. The software’s simplicity, accuracy, and range of features has proved incredibly useful to our forestry, grounds, and administrative departments. Our inventory allows us to not only record the location of trees but also the species, DBH, condition, mainwww.urban-forestry.com
tenance needs, and any present defects. With this information, we can determine tree quality, density, diversity, potential planting sites, and monetary and systemic benefits. Perhaps the most immediate benefit of the inventory is being able to determine which trees require priority attention, which will require maintenance in the near future, and which need to be monitored long-term to provide a safe environment for the Zoo staff, visitors, and animals. Being able to use inventory software on a tablet, smartphone, or computer makes it highly mobile. It gives us the ability to determine and commu-
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Milwaukee County Parks and Zoo are set up as separate organizations; users click to “load” trees or zoom the map, and reports for the Parks or Zoo summarize only their data.
nicate work assignments to employees in several different locations. The platform allows us to add or remove features; we were able to set up the Zoo and County Parks as separate entities and to display park and priority work area boundaries in the online map. One item of future consideration is integrating the enterprise tree inventory software
with the County’s ArcGIS and CityWorks servers. Within just a few months, the Zoo and County Parks have inventoried over 21,000 individual trees. Watch the data collection grow and explore our reporting stats at https://pg-cloud. com/Milwaukee.
City of Aspen, Colorado Ben Carlsen (City Forester, Aspen, Colorado)
The City of Aspen’s
Forestry Program developed in the late 1990s out of a need to more actively manage an over-mature canopy of cottonwood trees that were beginning to fail (cottonwood trees are native to Aspen and are the primary source of canopy cover here). In 2006, the Colorado State Forest Service performed a complete inventory of over 7,000 street and park trees in Aspen using GPS units. Since
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then, the data has been managed in Esri ArcMap GIS software. This allowed staff to have a better understanding of what made up the community forest and to be more active managers of the resource. However, the process to update and make changes to the inventory was tedious and time-consuming. Paper maps were printed and the forestry crew or contractors would make notes City Trees
Printing and emailing a work order in Aspen’s software app.
for each tree, and the data would then have to be manually entered into the Esri ArcMap database. There was no simple and efficient way to create work orders, record changes, or manage priorities. Since the original inventory was done in 2006, technology has come a long way. The City vetted many cloud-based products and decided on the Tree Plotter and Work Order Management program. Roughly 8,000 tree records were imported into the software’s interactive map; roles and logins were set up for the City staff, contractors, and guests; and the County’s aerial imagery was displayed in the tool. From the field, City staff can identify a tree maintenance problem and create a work order that is sent directly to the contractor, who has access to all the pertinent information about the tree(s) and a map showing where the tree is located, labeled by ID number. With the click of a button, the contractor can also let the City manager know that a work order has been completed and is www.urban-forestry.com
A complete view of Aspen’s app including welcome page, reporting interface, and form for the public to submit tree service requests.
ready for a final inspection, audit, or close-out. The data is saved and there is a permanent record of the work history for that specific tree. Additionally, data fields for multiple trees can be updated at one time with an easy-to-use interface rather than manually opening the popup form for each tree to make each change. The public also benefits from the cloud-based inventory in unique ways. An “interactive legend” allows the public to easily switch between exploring trees by spe-
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The Shopping List Outlined below is a short list of questions, considerations, and requirements when shopping for a tree inventory software in the “age of apps.”
• Will you have an internet connection in the field? Understand the basics of online vs. offline software apps. • Who will be the primary users of the software, and how many users can you have? Make sure that new users can be created and login levels, permissions, and roles can be established. For example, you may want volunteers to edit certain information but not data that’s meant only for managers. • Can the data fields be customized by the vendor and/or by you, the user? • Can any existing tree inventory data be migrated into the new system? Will you lose any information or be able to make changes? • Can data in your tree map be linked to other web mapping servers and applications? • Do you want the public to be able to submit service requests? • Can you save (export) your data to perform additional analysis locally? • Can you quickly print custom reports of your information? • Is it easy to use? Will it save you time and improve planning and communications? Aspen’s inventory software can be accessed on any smartphone and switches to a simplified menu compared to the view on tablets or desktop computers.
cies, size, and location. The Ecosystem Benefits Calculator displays benefits such as carbon stored, air quality, stormwater runoff, property value increase, and energy conservation. It is an effective way to educate the public and communicate the important role trees play as part of the infrastructure. Lastly, the tool was customized to display our existing tree canopy cover and potential planting space GIS data by simply clicking a “Canopy” button to launch a canopy planner software module. The map zooms to the citywide extent and changes from displaying trees or work orders to parcel-level percent canopy cover or plantable area. Slider bars allow users to quickly and easily display areas with the lowest canopy and highest potential to expand it, and then print a map. Have a look at this and the other features we are using at http://pg-cloud.com/Aspen.
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Will the tree inventory software enable you to answer questions like:
• Where do we lack diversity in species or age distribution AND have available spaces to do something about it? • How many trees did we plant, prune, and remove last year, and what was the cost? • Where are we experiencing the highest mortality, and from what species? • What would it cost to treat vs. remove and replant ash trees that are facing EAB? • How are we spending the tree maintenance budget in a specific management zone? • Broken down by species, what was our average DBH and cost of tree removals last year? Please see also a similar article about tree planting tracking tools used by nonprofits that was published in the March/April 2016 issue of City Trees.
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