Davey Tree Flipbooks

T he i-Tree tools are branching out to international urban forests. "Out of all i-Tree users, 25 percent are from countries outside the U.S.," says Scott Maco, director of research and development for the Davey Institute. "All users represent 120 countries." Although Canada and Australia already use i-Tree tools customized to the climate and geographical conditions in their nations, other countries require more research before they may use i-Tree tools without data processing assistance from U.S. partners, including Davey. In March, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Landscape Architecture and Treeconomics collaborated to organize a two-day conference in Sweden to help individuals interested in customized i-Tree versions better understand the i-Tree suite of tools and how experienced users have applied their capabilities. Nearly 150 attendees listened to the presentations, including representatives from Scandinavian countries interested in collaborat- ing to create a version of i-Tree specific to their region. The U.K. anticipates its own version of i-Tree to launch this spring. "No one really expected i-Tree to become known internationally, at first," Maco says. "i-Tree will be 10 years old in August 2016. Since the beginning, we've seen its audience grow from municipal foresters and forestry Davey on Display Idea submitted by: Charles Textor, fleet administration manager, corporate office Worldwide Tree Love Maximize Benefits, Minimize Cost Scott Maco also presented during The Cost of Not Maintaining T rees Symposium, an event the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), the Florida Urban Forestry Council (FUFC) and the Florida Chapter ISA hosted in Tampa, Florida, in March. He discussed best practices to prevent costs from escalating when limited funds for tree care exist. "We all think intuitively that spending money on proactive tree care services saves money in the long run," Maco says, adding, "but, in reality, there is very little research to support which activities drive cost efficiency." The symposium ended with a meeting to develop a research agenda on the benefits and costs of tree maintenance. consultants to nonprofits, universities, landscape architects, planners, homeowners and school children." i-Tree Eco, in an upcoming new version of the tools, will offer even more capabilities than its predecessors. It will be able to forecast how tree canopy and forest resilience can be affected through management programs. As Maco says, "Because i-Tree is a universal tool, as well as the standard for urban forest assessment, it has tremendous opportunity to expand even further world-wide." May/June 2015 | 9 D avey employees could not produce the superior work they do without the help of quality trucks and leading technology in the industry. That is why Ford Motor Company asked Davey to display its Ford F350 Regular Cab 4x4 Diesel truck at this year's Cleveland Auto Show at the IX Center, held in March. "Davey has a long history with the Ford Motor Company," says Charles Textor, Davey's fleet administration manager. "It is a privilege to display one of our vehicles in their booth." Textor helped coordinate Davey's participa- tion in the Cleveland Auto Show. "Events such as this provide exposure of the Davey brand to many people who may or may not already know about Davey," he says.

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