On March 1st, 2014, Seattle Audubon Society will officially launch the Seattle Tree Map, a website that allows users to contribute to urban forest monitoring and conservation through a shared inventory of our city’s trees.
The Seattle Tree Map is part of Canopy Connections, a project by Seattle Audubon to document, map, and enhance Seattle’s urban forest habitat for birds and nature. The “Connection” with trees is a natural one with Audubon’s focus on birds, since birds are dependent upon the trees.
Curious about how many Douglas Firs are in your neighborhood? Or the number of trees in the city with a trunk diameter greater than twenty-four inches? Search functions allow you to find the exact trees you’re looking for, or filter results based on tree height, date of planting, plot type, tree health, and more. Users can edit data to account for missing or outdated information, upload photos to tree profiles, “favorite” the trees they like, set alerts (this tree needs to be watered!) and add comments.
A tree’s environmental benefits—like how much carbon dioxide the Red Maple in your front yard sequesters every year — is automatically displayed in the Eco Impact data. Add your tree to the database, and the Seattle Tree Map will tell you the tree’s water, energy, and air quality benefits, including the dollar value of each. On March 1st visit www.SeattleTreeMap.org to get started.