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THE DAVEY BULLETIN
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September/October 2019
DRG HELPS TRAVERSE CITY COMPLETE TREE INVENTORY
Davey Resource Group (DRG) assisted with a tree
inventory of more than 10,000 trees in Traverse City, Michigan.
Sam Heywood, project manager, said the city approached
DRG to help finish the inventory it was conducting in-house.
The city also tapped DRG to write the tree management
plan and complete an urban tree canopy assessment.
"It's a vacation destination. They pride themselves on having
well maintained trees along the city streets, in the business
district and in the parks," Heywood said. "It's important to
maintain the trees in the parks and high use areas."
The dataset provided by the city included 9,387 trees
inventoried. Add to that data collected by DRG staff on
772 trees. The data was collected from trees along street
rights-of-way, in parks and other public facilities.
The tree management plan focused on addressing
short-term and long-term needs for the city's public trees,
such as pruning cycles and plantings.
"We proposed a seven year budget that would reduce the
cost of their operations and move their program from a
reactive one to a more proactive program," Heywood said.
"They are now able to use the data to identify the trees that
need the most care and prioritize what work to perform."
For the urban canopy assessment, the GIS team in
DRG used imagery to analyze the urban tree canopy. A
comparison determined which areas had the greatest need
for stormwater mitigation. The report identified 480 acres as
moderate to high priority planting areas. If these acres were
planted, it would increase the city's canopy by 42 percent.
The data also showed Traverse City trees provide about
$2 million in annual benefits through stormwater reduction,
air quaility improvement, carbon reduction and more.
"Everyone can say that trees save their community a lot
of money," Heywood said. "But, being able to present a
concrete number at a meeting can help secure funding
and set a goal for planting trees. These data are really
helpful for these communities to drive their programs
and make decisions."
The urban tree canopy of Traverse City, Michigan, is glimpsed above and
at right. Davey Resource Group helped the city finish an inventory of
more than 10,000 trees in public spaces.
VISION
