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An i-Tree Primer
The i-Tree suite of computerized tools may well be the most significant development of the 21st century in the field of urban forestry. These tools provide valuable assistance to urban foresters, consultants, nonprofit organizations, and anyone who manages trees or owns a tree.
The i-Tree tools have provided new ways to quantify and analyze urban forests and the benefits they provide.
They are scientifically based ways to have a better overall understanding of the trees in any area of interest and to quantify their environmental contributions.
Many of our readers will be familiar with the i-Tree tools. They are being used in thousands of American cities of all sizes and even internationally. However, there are many who have not heard of these amazing aids to urban forest management or have only a vague acquaintance with them. In this issue, we summarize some of the tools and their applications.
The i-Tree software tools were first released for public use in 2006. There were four initially available tools that followed more than a decade of research and development. The effort was led primarily by Dr. David J. Nowak of the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station, in cooperation with staff at The Davey Tree Expert Company. Through the years, an i-Tree development team of urban foresters, academicians, and other collaborators have contributed to testing, improving, and expanding the tools. Today there are 13 i-Tree tools available, and all are free to anyone who wants to use them.
The purpose of this amazing program is to aid and improve urban forest management by providing peer-reviewed, scientific methods for quantifying our urban trees and the environmental services they provide. The tools not only can help guide decisions about planting and best management, they provide a powerful way to illustrate the benefits of urban trees and gain public understanding and support.
In This Bulletin
Here’s what’s inside:
- An i-Tree Overview – understanding the tool and how it can help
- For Trees in Your Yard – two tools to use in your own backyard
- The Big 3 – the tools currently being widely used by urban foresters
- Other i-Tree Tools – other tools available to help with urban forest assessment and analysis
- A Good Use of i-Tree Design – one tool can be adapted to meet specific user needs