Trees with GPS? NeighborhWoods gets a more detailed inventory? Read on:
Raleigh Awarded Matching Grant For Street Tree Inventory Effort
On Nov. 3, the Raleigh City Council accepted a $10,000 matching grant from the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) for the second phase of the City’s Street Tree Inventory Project.
In the first phase of the project, the City of Raleigh purchased GPS units and began collecting detailed information on City-owned trees. City staff will accumulate data on the number, condition, size, species and locations of the trees. The information, once completed will include valuable data on more than 100,000 street trees, and will be entered into the City’s computer network. The $10,000 grant and its matching funds will be used to complete the data collection effort (with volunteers and interns from North Carolina State University), provide training for Tree Steward volunteers, and allow for further integration of the data into various City-maintained computer systems.
“So far, the collected information has been extremely beneficial,” said City of Raleigh Tree Planting Coordinator Sherry Graham. “It’s a big help to us in our planning tree maintenance, identifying potential safety hazards, and developing possible planning sites for the NeighborWoods program.”
The NeighborWoods Program is designed to add significantly to the trees lining Raleigh streets by planting trees on public rights-of-way along City streets. The program’s goal is to produce a new generation of street trees as the current canopy matures and ensures that new street trees are planted in areas where canopy is lacking. Since the program’s inception in 2003, more than 7,500 trees have been planted throughout the city.
Source: http://bit.ly/1IklYm
Tags: NCDENR, neighborwoods, raleigh, trees