BMP - Tree Inventories - 10

Inventory Costs

i-Tree

To collect and use tree inventory
information, resources are required.
Those resources include:

i-Tree is a peer-reviewed software
suite from the USDA Forest Service
that provides urban forestry analysis
and tools for assessing benefits.
i-Tree is not intended to be a
day-to-day management tool.

Office Personnel

The urban forest manager and staff
must understand and support the tree
inventory process and outcome. The
ongoing work of data entry required
to maintain an inventory must be
acknowledged and budgeted. In
addition, a lead staff person should
be designated to take responsibility
for maintaining the data. When purchasing a new software system, that
person should also be involved with
selection and training.

The i-Tree tools help communities
strengthen their urban forest
management and advocacy
efforts by quantifying the structure
of community trees and the
environmental services that trees
provide.
www.itreetools.org
Components of i-Tree include:
*	 i-Tree Streets focuses on
the benefits provided by a
municipality's street trees.

Data Collection Personnel

*	 i-Tree Eco provides a broad
picture of the entire urban
forest.

The cost, accuracy, and efficiency of
data collection vary with the nature
of the personnel. Table 1 summarizes the general experience of the
authors and the review committee
of this guide.

*	 i-Tree Storm offers a standard
method to assess widespread
damage immediately after a
severe storm.

Data Collection Equipment

Data collection equipment ranges from paper and pencil to various mobile
devices. Geographic location information can be acquired through the use of
a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, of which several forms exist.
The equipment choice depends primarily on local resources and personnel.
The fewer people that handle the same data, the fewer data entry mistakes
occur. Electronic equipment is useful because it is fast, accurate, and does not
require office data entry. But it does require acceptance, investment, training,
and maintenance-including technical support.

10
http://www.itreetools.org
BMP - Tree Inventories

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