Resilience Scanner

GIS-Based Urban Tree Inventory and Management System

Solution Overview

The City of St. Louis Forestry Division maintains an active database of trees that it manages, with a GIS-based inventory for street trees and nearly all of the City's larger parks.[5] This approach is continually updated with information on street trees and park trees to help maintain the urban tree canopy and protect against diseases and insect infestations that could harm the trees.[1] The system enables accurate record keeping, work planning, and long-term planning to ensure a continuously improved and larger tree canopy.[2]

Technical Components

The City recently updated its computerized GIS-based inventory of trees along public streets and many of its larger parks.[4] The GIS-based inventory includes all street trees and most of the larger public parks.[2] The mapped trees include many parks, Forest Park (except the SW forest area), and easement trees within the City of Saint Louis.[5] Community foresters working with organizations like Beyond Housing use the TreeKeeper database to track every public tree in specific geographic footprints.[6] Residents can see where Ash trees are located by visiting the website Show MO Trees.[3]

Implementation Details

The Tree Section is responsible for more than 80,000 street trees and another 25,000 trees in city parks.[2] The City has 74,000 street trees and plants thousands of new trees every year.[1] The Forestry Division has mapped more than 15,000 public Ash trees along City streets and parks.[3] There are approximately 80,000 street trees in St. Louis and 15,004 are ash, representing 18.75% of the total.[4] The City Forestry Division has a No Net Loss Tree policy to maintain the City's urban canopy, where for every tree that is removed, a new tree is planted.[1] Pasadena Hills has an inventory of nearly 800 trees tracked in the TreeKeeper database.[6]

Benefits and Impacts

The GIS-based tree inventory information allows accurate record keeping, work planning, and long-term planning to ensure a continuously improved and larger tree canopy.[2] The system helps maintain the urban tree canopy and protect against diseases and insect infestations that could harm the trees.[1] The City has listed its EAB Strategy online, including answers to common questions and the map of Ash street tree locations.[3] Ash trees comprise 17% of the city's street tree population, making the tracking capability particularly important for managing potential threats from the Emerald Ash Borer.[4]

Climate Adaptation Relevance

The GIS-based inventory system directly supports climate adaptation by enabling the City to maintain and expand its urban tree canopy, which provides critical cooling benefits during extreme heat events and helps manage stormwater during heavy precipitation. The continuous monitoring and strategic replacement policy ensures the resilience of the urban forest against climate-related stresses, including increased pest pressures and disease outbreaks that may intensify with changing temperature and precipitation patterns.

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