TREEKEEPER 8 SYSTEM FOR CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA

ABSTRACT:  As presented by City Forester Sara Davis at the City Council Regular Meeting, August 4, 2020,  the State of the Forest & Vision for the Future featured TreeKeeper, "designed by urban foresters for urban foresters," an Urban Forestry Management Software System.

TreeKeeper Inventory Management Software

State of the Forest & Vision for the Future

City Council August 2020

City Forester Sara Davis

Agenda

• Inventory platform
• What the inventory can tell us
• How does Carmel stack up
• Challenges and hard conversations
• Looking forward

Inventory Platform

TreeKeeper

• Cloud-based inventory platform
• Assigns a unique number for every tree
• Keeps track of data

about the tree

all work performed

correspondence about the tree

• Published where everyone can see the data

https://carmelca.treekeepersoftware.com/

Tree Benefirs

2,486 Calculated Trees

Total Yearly Eco Benefits
$62,400.05

Greenhouse Gas Benefits
$362.27
17,814.96 lbs CO₂ avoided
36,102.16 lbs CO₂ sequestered

Water Benefits
$1,673.39
418,347.67 gallons saved

Energy Benefits
$7,579.40
47,851.73 kWh saved
956.94 Therms saved

Air Quality Benefits
$1,090.28
72.06 lbs pollutants saved

Property Benefits
$51,694.70
49,423.27 leaf surface area (sq.ft.)

• As of 8/3/2020
• Includes GIS tree survey data collected in 2019
• 2,456 inventoried tree, includes GIS data, about a quarter of total City trees

Windows include Site Information, Work Information, Historic Information, Easy Work Planning, Easy Analysis

Age and Species Distribution

Carmel in Comparsion

Oaks Maturing population

Pines Over Mature population

Overall a “mature” forest

Species Distribution

Carmel top 6

Monterey Cypress 38%

Pine 27%

Total Top 6 77%

Most common 38%

2^nd  27%

3^rd   14%

4^th    10%

5^th      4%

6^th      4%

Where do we go from here?

We need to start a discussion about diversifying the forest.

Urban Tree Canopy (UTC)

Carmel-by-the-Sea 56%

Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) refers to the layer of tree leaves, branches and stems that provide tree coverage of the ground when viewed from above.

Seattle 23%

California 39%

Los Angeles 21%

Sacramento 15%

Atlanta 48%

What can our forest do?

Absorbs 28,000 pounds of air pollution a year

Manage 120,000 bathtubs worth of storm water

UTC vs. Density

4,000 square foot lot

3 upper canopy trees, 1 lower canopy tree

·         2 Monterey pines = 1,400 sq. ft.

·         1 Monterey cypress = 1,200 sq. ft.

·         1 Coast live oak = 4,000 sq. ft.

·         Total 6,600 sq. ft.

·         Recommendations do not account for trees on neighboring parcels or the right of way

Crowding

Competing for light, nutrients and water

“Leaning”

We need to start a discussion about the density of the forest.

Construction

Tree Protection

We need to have a conversation with the development community.

Forest Management Plan

·         Preserve and enhance the City’s legacy of an urbanized forest of predominantly Monterey pine, coast live oak and Monterey cypress

·         Maintain and enhance the informality of streetscapes

·         Preserve and acquire open space and parks

·         Conserve water and minimize runoff

Looking Forward

·         Increased outreach

Use social platforms with the help of credible messengers

Engage with volunteers

Host events

·         Arbor Day Celebration

More than one tree!

Transformative projects

Engage with students

·         Grid pruning rotation

·         Young tree program

Prune for future structure & health

Retain natural character

Watering

·         Stumps

·         Explore new park amenities

What do residents want?

What will the residents of the future want?

What do our visitors want?

·         Eliminate the gopher

REFERENCES:

Introduction to Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) Assessments
Forest Service
Urban Tree Canopy

Urban Tree Canopy Assessment Sacramento, CA
2018
City of Sacramento