[CANUFNET] In-house Tree Management Databases and Big Cities

[Heather Fraser]

Ok in answer to your questions.
We are a city in transition in Moncton NB eastern Canada population just over 100,000 working on what you have asked below.
I manage the land that the city owns we have over 15,000 acres of forest and then street trees neighbourhood parks ect....

1)      We have no system yet as we are working on a street tree inventory first identifying species, size, health and condition, a series of specs per tree

2)      We are looking at various software but may use our own as we have been imputing data for a few years now

3)      Our system in time will be to manage work orders plan work schedules and what streets need attention by priority

4)      Yes we have all the technology for seeing exactly where individual trees are located by GPS coordinates and arcview programs along with LIDAR - well advanced in that category I would say

5)      Once completed our tree database will interface with other departments such as engineering, public works that handles water issues and the fire department

6)      Yes the GPS I have has all maps and tree stands identified as I work on the larger land bases over 5 acres in size - our additional GPS equipment the arborists have in the field as well.

7)      Always it keeps us on track and we can share the data with the work crews once the initial inspections are complete 0 helps with work scheduling

8)      Engineering does their own here and the parks department has their own system hope to share between departments in the future

9)      Finding the time to do all the ground work and gather the initial information is time consuming then the annual follow up needs to be continued that becomes an issue at times need to schedule time in the field better

As day to day issues take president......

Hope this helps out......

From: CANUFNET [mailto:canufnet-bounces at list.web.net] On Behalf Of Meagan Hanna, Miss
Sent: April-26-14 2:29 PM
To: CANUFNET at list.web.net
Subject: [CANUFNET] FW: In-house Tree Management Databases and Big Cities


Greetings all,

I see that Jessica Tivy had recently put out a question on tree inventory technology and trends in Canada. I actually have a similar inquiry of my own. In fact, I have a set of precise questions about tree inventories in large Canadian (and American, for any neighbours on the line) cities. I am hoping to touch base with a few municipal practitioners with the goal of obtaining more information on how large cities manage their trees.

To be brief, I would like to draw some comparisons between the City of Montreal's in-house, Oracle system and tree databases from other big cities. To achieve this, I am interested in discussing specific programs with you. I am on the look-out for resource people who wouldn't mind offering some time for an email or telephone call.

If you're feeling generous, you may contact me directly by email at meagan.hanna at mail.mcgill.ca<mailto:meagan.hanna at mail.mcgill.ca>. Alternatively, if you feel some of this info could be useful for all, feel free to share your comments with the group.

My questions are as follows :

1) What platform/system does your city use to manage its trees?

2) Is your city's tree database managed through an in-house program or through software developed by an external company or organization?

3) Does this program cover location, species, size class and other characteristics only or do you use it to manage your work orders, services requests and summaries of activities as well?

4)  Is there a geo-spatial component too? (ex: can you position and view your city's trees on a spatial database/computer-based map)?

5) Is your tree inventory kept in a stand alone program or is this information integrated with other programs such as your city's mapping data, asset management system or work management system (311 call log, service request follow-up etc.) ? Basically, does your tree database interface with other programs or is it independent from all?

6) Do your city's inspectors, arborists or foresters have access to the database while in the field through a portable computer, tablet or other device? If so, can you respond to citizen requests and generate work orders in the field or do you have to complete those steps and close your ticket once back at the office?

7) Do you use GPS equipment in the field to manage tree inspections and correctly position your city's trees?

 If you have gotten this far, first off thank you so much!

8) Second, if your city uses software to manage its trees, I would love to know how your city manages this program. Which department(s) is (are) responsible for training, troubleshooting and development?

9) Are any of the three abovementioned aspects a problem in your municipality at the moment?

I know this email was a whopper. Thanks for taking the time to read it. I am looking forward to your feedback and hope to be in touch with you.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Meg


Meagan Hanna
Technical Officer - Horticulture and Arboriculture
City of Montreal
Work email : meagan.hanna at ville.montreal.qc.ca<mailto:meagan.hanna at ville.montreal.qc.ca>
Personal email : meagan.hanna at mail.mcgill.ca<mailto:meagan.hanna at mail.mcgill.ca>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://list.web.net/pipermail/canufnet/attachments/20140429/546c65be/attachment.html>