Trees, ever-present in many of our lives, are often taken for granted. They provide communities with tangible benefits, including reducing stormwater surges, cleaning our air and filtering our water. They are energy conservation tools that deliver oxygen and store carbon dioxide. They also are good for our physical and mental health.

In short, trees are valuable commodities. That’s why quantifying their importance is so vital and one of the reasons we value our partnership with Davey Tree Expert Company. They help us show communities and land managers the advantage of planting the right tree in the right place for the right reason through i-Tree.

Our partnership has fundamentally advanced the knowledge and practice of urban and community forestry through development of i-Tree tools. These tools now provide the international standard for quantifying the ecosystem services that trees provide at all scales.

Today, Nov. 3, Chief Moore signed a new memorandum of understanding with the Davey Tree Expert Company. Our agreement will facilitate continuation and expansion of a successful partnership. The new suite of tools includes the OurTrees application, which enables users to get an estimate of tree canopy and its benefits in communities anywhere in the contiguous U.S. with the click of a single button.

More than 600,000 users across 162 countries have used i-Tree tools since we released it in 2006. i-Tree has drawn support from partners including Arbor Day Foundation, National Association of State Foresters, International Society of Arboriculture, Society of Municipal Arborists, International Society of Arboriculture, Casey Trees and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

We also recognize the potential for i-Tree tools to provide connections between forest management activities and environmental quality and livability in communities to advance our environmental justice efforts. Collectively, the information gleaned from the science-based application can help strengthen forest management and advocacy efforts.

Coupling Forest Inventory and Analysis Program data with the science and advanced modeling our Research and Development branch, i-Tree tools are used across Forest Service programs, including Urban and Community Forestry and Office of International Programs.  The tool produces estimates across National Forest System lands as well.

As we embark on our continued partnership with Davey Tree, I ask that you, as employees, use this tool in your work as appropriate. More importantly, share this valuable tool with others as we continue to provide information and tools to help support and grow healthy forests across America.

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