Appendix: i-Tree Projects

These projects are using i-Tree to achieve specific goals. Funds invested in these projects are used specifically to accomplish required tasks for each project. These are typically production hours using i-Tree for analysis or training and are not used in development or maintenance of the core i-Tree program.

Current

FIA Technical and Analytical Support

  • Why: Integrate FIA and i-Tree methods.
  • Completion Date: Year-round support as needed.
  • Outcomes/Impacts: Unify the program elements.
  • Addressing a request(s): requested by FIA for standardization of tree benefits.
  • Planned work:
      • Version control
      • UFIA / i-Tree integration oversight
      • Backend data analysis and reporting templates
      • Technical support for i-Tree communication and training: Lead on-line training and workshops, develop communication products, represent i-Tree team in stakeholder and user meetings

Philadelphia Field Station Support

Ongoing

USFS S&P User Outreach

  • Why: Deliver a series of online i-Tree Academies to reach new audiences.
  • Completion Date: January 2024
  • Outcomes/Impacts:
  • Addressing a request(s):
  • Planned work:
      • Deliver two online i-Tree Training Academies
      • Deliver one online “i-Tree 101” training course
      • Deliver series of online training videos

WI DNR Landscape Scale Restoration

Integration prototype of Urban FIA plot data into i-Tree Landscape

i-Tree Eco Avian Benefits Enhancements

Generalize to include more bird species including international and migratory species.

NUCFAC Equitable Forest Planning (ESF)

Incorporates 11 different urban forest and human health risks (flooding, hurricanes, heat, etc.) into i-Tree landscape to understand local vulnerability and priorities at the census block level.

Recently Completed

NUCFAC Colorado State University

Pest Risk Analysis R&D, hosting and inclusion in i-Tree Eco

USDA FS IP Education & Conservation

Global expansion of MyTree; online international academy

New Zealand i-Tree Eco build-out (University of Canterbury)

The first step to getting i-Tree officially supported in a region.

i-Tree Hydro / Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (continued and expand from 2019)

  • USFS investment: $ 106,080
  • Davey matching funds: $ 106,080
    • Why: Improve tree planting designs to reduce runoff and improve water quality.
  • Completion Date: September 2023
    • Outcomes/Impacts: Evaluate conditions in the Treatment catchment before and after tree removal scenarios, and before and after future tree planting scenarios to help assess and improve tree planting designs to reduce runoff and improve water quality.
  • Addressing a request(s): EPA GLRI – Impacts of trees on nutrient loading in great lakes.
  • Planned work:
    • Complete modeling improvements to evaluate conditions in the Treatment catchment before and after tree removal scenarios, and before and after future tree planting scenarios to help assess and improve tree planting designs to reduce runoff and improve water quality.
    • Develop design storm feature prototype for simulating storms of a particular duration and frequency (i.e. a 12-hour storm that has a probability of occurring once every 100 years).
    • Quantification Analysis of Fond Du Lac, Wi using i-Tree Hydro+ and reporting

i-Tree Hydro / GLRI Shoreline project

i-Tree Hydro+ model enhancement to demonstrate tree cover effect on water flow and nutrient loading in the Great Lakes

Elm-Ash Assessment

  • USFS investment: $ 30,000
  • Davey matching funds: $ 30,000
  • Why: Support station-wide effort to conserve and restore these species.
  • Completion Date: June 2023
  • Outcomes/Impacts: Our objective is to assess both scope for ecosystem services loss and scope for restoration given the successful development of pest and pathogen resistance.
  • Addressing a request(s): Northern Research Station
  • Planned work:
    • Methods and Objectives: As part of a Station-wide effort to conserve and restore these species, we will analyze existing i-Tree and other urban and residential tree inventories to establish baseline abundance, age- and size-structure, and ecosystem services provided by ash and elm in a number of locations across the northeast and Midwest.
    • Products and outputs: Results will form the basis of at least one scientific journal publication and will be included in the final report to the Washington Office on the Station-wide project. We will also be presenting and sharing results in several stakeholder and science workshops and meetings.

Stormwater Calculator

  • USFS investment: $ 125,000 (GLRI Funds)
  • Davey matching funds: $ 125,000
  • Why: Support ease-of-access to local tree specific effects for crediting reduction of stormwater runoff volumes.
  • Completion Date: June 2024
  • Outcomes/Impacts: The resulting calculator would support environmental decisions by clarifying the impacts of, and guiding species selection for, trees in agricultural, urban, and natural forest areas.
  • Addressing a request(s): EPA
  • Planned work:
    • This research proposes to develop a species- and location-specific calculator as an accessible, accurate, and consistent basis to inform stormwater credits for trees across the contiguous United States. This new tool would provide locally-specific estimates of tree species impacts on stormwater volume reduction and water quality changes to aid in species selection and stormwater credits. The tool would also assess leaf nutrient inputs by incorporating results from phosphorus leaching experiments of leaves from select tree species, performed by the University of Wisconsin.

StewMap Support

  • USFS investment: $ 20,000
  • Davey matching funds: $ 20,000
  • Why: Support the Northern Research Station’s (NRS) work on mosaic landscapes of national forest, state, private, tribal, and/or community forestlands to monitor a complex and dynamic network of stewardship actors and outcomes. Funds will be used to co-support Davey Institute staff who will play a key role in providing data processing and cleaning support in the collection and visualization of STEW-MAP data for partners.
  • Completion Date: September 2023
  • Outcomes/Impacts: The National Forest System, as well as partnering state, private, community, and tribal forest managers, will be supported by this agreement modification in their development of STEW-MAP efforts in new locations, with the Region 9 National Forest System in St Louis (Urban Connections), Mark Twain National Forest, Hoosier National Forest, and Shawnee National Forest. STEW-MAP monitoring data helps land managers make more informed decisions and evaluate existing and potential partnerships. STEW-MAP monitoring efforts can also provide information that is critical for post-disaster response recovery. This work will fill a critical need for enhanced support for data science and analysis at the field station in New York and Region 9 of the National Forest System.
  • Addressing a request(s): Norther Research Station partners
  • Planned work:
    • The Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project, or STEW-MAP, is a mapping and decision tool that the USDA Forest Service developed to identify and evaluate stewardship activity across mixed ownerships. It can help the Forest Service, communities, governments, and non-profits – any land steward – understand the social fabric of the landscape. STEW-MAP utilizes spatial analysis and network assessment methodology to identify stewardship networks, gaps, and overlaps across a forested region, providing important data on civic groups that natural resource managers critically need to engage with communities.