Brief Answers to i-Tree Questions (More detailed answers are given

starting on page 2)
What is i-Tree (Urban Forestry is of particular interest)?
i-Tree is a suite of free, easy-to-use software with a growing user-base (currently
125,000 users in over 120 countries) that aides urban and rural land managers in:
Assessing and monitoring their local forest resource
Understanding the services and values provided by trees and
forests
Evaluating risk to forest and human populations
Developing sustainable forest management plans
Improving environmental quality and human health
Selecting appropriate tree species and locations
Engaging numerous partners
What value does i-Tree bring to Forest Service (and specifically to NFS)?
i-Tree helps Research, State and Private Forestry, National Forests and International
Programs attain numerous Forest Service Strategic Plan goals. The value these tools
bring to the Forest Service include:
Helping the Forest Service be a leader in domestic and international sustainability,
resilience, adaptation, mitigation and forest canopy conversations
Leveraging public and private funding to protect and enhance sustainable forests
and tree cover
Engaging land managers in any easy and technologically advanced fashion
Providing tools that promote improved forest management, protection and
stewardship globally
Connecting forests with human health and other less tangible forest values
Integrating new ecosystem service valuation within FIA assessments
Supporting land management in NFS and other rural forests with collaborative
science-based tools
How do we partner with Davey Tree?
Davey Tree has been an integral partner in i-Tree development for over 15 years.
We partner with Davey Tree through a Challenge Cost Share agreement where Davey
Tree matches Forest Service funding. We have joint-funded positions within Forest Service
and Davey Tree offices that work on i-Tree development, dissemination and support.
What will the supplemental funding be used for?
Continued development of tools for rural and urban land managers, including
National Forests
Continued technical support for a growing domestic and international user base
Incorporation of new ecosystem services and values
Integrating means to assess local forest risks (e.g., insects, disease, fire, climate
change) and management recommendations to mitigate risk and enhance
sustainable forests & ecosystem services
Increased linkages with FIA data to aid in ecosystem service valuation of forests
nationally
More connections of forests to public health and other less tangible forest benefits
Mobile apps to engage citizens in forest stewardship, advocacy and education

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What additional value will this new functionality bring to FS (and specifically to
NFS)?
Engagement of new audiences in enhancing forest values, protection and
stewardship
Ability to select species and locations to reduce risks to forests and human
populations, and enhance forest and human health, ecosystem services and forest
values
Improved understanding and management of numerous current and future risks to
forest and human health at the local scale across the nation and how forests and
human health are linked
Enhanced i-Tree Landscape and Design programs specifically designed to aid in
National Forest management decisions

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Appendix More Detailed Answers
What is i-Tree (Urban Forestry is of particular
interest)?
i-Tree is a suite of software that has been developed through a collaborative public-
private partnership including the U.S. Forest Service, Davey Tree Expert Company,
National Arbor Day Foundation, Society of Municipal Arborists, International Society of
Arboriculture, Casey Trees and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. All
programs are publicly available and free-of-charge at www.itreetools.org, including
technical support, users manuals and resources, and a moderated peer-to-peer on-line
forum.
Its tools are designed to be easy-to-use, aiding urban and rural land managers in:

Assessing and monitoring their local forest resource

Understanding the services and values provided by trees and forests
Evaluating risk to forest and human populations
Developing sustainable forest management plans
Improving environmental quality and human health
Selecting appropriate tree species and locations
Engaging numerous partners

The programs were originally designed to aid in urban forest management, but have
been built to also meet the needs of rural forest management. The programs can be used
internationally.

i-Tree: Currently 125,000 users

globally
Since its release in 2006, there has been 125,000 users of i-Tree desktop and web-based
programs in 122 countries. Program usage is increasing at a rate of about 40% per year

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with about 40% of desktop users being from outside of the United States. The i-Tree
website is averaging over 9,500 unique visitors each month over the last 3 years.
Various tools are designed to assess local forests, the potential risks to forest health, and
forest ecosystem services and values. These tools and their outputs are used to aid in
forest management decisions, education and advocacy. The tools work at various scales
from the individual tree, to the parcel, city and landscape levels. The core tools include:
i-Tree Eco - uses local tree and environmental data to assess forest
structure, risks, ecosystem services and values. The program includes plot
selection and mobile data collection programs, table and graphic reporting
and exporting, and automatic report generation. This program is being
integrated within FIA procedures to aid in urban and rural forest
assessments. i-Tree Streets is similar to Eco, but focuses on street tree
populations.
i-Tree Forecast is part of i-Tree Eco and simulates future tree population
totals, canopy cover and ecosystem services and values based on user-defined or
preloaded scenarios (insect infestations, storms).
i-Tree Design links to Google maps and allows users to sketch
their home (or school etc.) and see how the trees around their
home affect energy use and savings, and other environmental
services and values, both now and into the future.
i-Tree Species is designed to help users select the most
appropriate tree species based on desired environmental
functions.
i-Tree Canopy allows users to easily photo-interpret Google aerial images (globally) to
produce estimates of tree and other land cover classes with statistical estimates of
uncertainty. Use of historical imagery can also be used to aid in change analyses.
i-Tree Hydro is designed to simulate the effects of changes in tree and impervious cover
within a watershed on hourly stream flow and water quality.
i-Tree Landscape is a new web-based tool that allows users to
explore tree canopy, land cover, benefits of trees (carbon storage, air
pollution removal, reduced runoff), wildfire potential, forests to
faucets data and basic demographic information anywhere in the U.S.
and Puerto Rico, and determine priority areas for management
actions (e.g., planting, protection).
The information provided by i-Tree software has been used to
influence management and policies throughout the United States and the world in
relation to urban forestry. i-Tree results have been used by consultants, managers, and
local citizens to guide management and policies decisions related to issues such as:
emerald ash borer protection; building financial support for urban forestry programs, tree
planting and management; linking local tree data with the U.S. Conference of Mayors
Climate Protection Agreement; public outreach campaigns (e.g., billboards) on tree
benefits; developing Urban Forest Strategic Management Plans; and focus funds to
improve stewardship. These are just a few of the known impacts of i-Tree.
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What value does i-Tree bring to Forest Service (and
specifically to NFS)?
i-Tree bridges all areas of the Forest Service:

Research - by developing and integrating science, and

enhancing FIA capabilities.

State and Private Forestry - by assisting and engaging

land managers with easy-to-use and supported science-based tools to understand
and enhance the value of forests and developing appropriate management plans.
i-Tree facilitates collaborative decision-making regarding forests.

National Forests - through the newly released i-Tree

Landscape application that is integrating numerous forest and environmental data
sets nationally to help target locally specific landscape locations for forest
management actions where forest and human populations are at risk or will be at
risk in the future.

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 International Programs - by assisting land managers
across the globe in assessing forests and quantifying derived ecosystem services
and values.
i-Tree helps in attaining Forest Service Strategic Plan goals of:

Sustain Our Nations Forests and Grasslands

Deliver Benefits to the Public
Apply Knowledge Globally

Specifically i-Tree is addressing means to:

Use science-based tools for sustainable natural resources management

Engage urban America
Promote development based on long-term planning and strategic conservation
that meets community needs, is sensitive to the environment, and preserves and
restores forested landscapes and urban tree cover
Promote market-based conservation and stewardship of ecosystem services
Foster resilient, adaptive ecosystems to mitigate climate change
Develop detection, prediction, prevention, mitigation and climate adaptation
methods, technologies and strategies for addressing disturbances
Coordinate inventory, monitoring and assessment activities across all lands
Enhance rural FIA forest outputs
Meet the 2014 Farm Bill mandate of an annualized urban tree inventory
Develop land management options to support sound land stewardship
Maintain healthy watersheds
Deliver the knowledge, tools, and technologies to restore, sustain, and enhance
watersheds in a changing future
Develop Internet-based tools to improve internal and external user interaction with
the Forest Service and Forest Service data
Develop tools for evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of different
management practices that may better achieve our management objectives
Develop and use cost-effective methods for transferring scientific information,
technologies, and applications
Find effective ways of communicating resource data and new knowledge and
making it widely available, using social media, publications, the Internet, and other
tools that have a global reach for disseminating information
The value these tools bring to the Forest Service include:

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 Helping the Forest Service be a leader in domestic and international sustainability,
resilience, adaptation, mitigation and forest canopy conversations
Leveraging public and private funding to protect and enhance sustainable forests
and tree cover
Engaging land managers in any easy and technologically advanced fashion
Providing tools that promote improved forest management, protection and
stewardship globally
Connecting forests with human health and other less tangible forest values
Integrating new ecosystem service valuation within FIA assessments

Specific values related to the National Forest System will come from the new i-Tree
Landscape tool. The first version of this tool was released in November 2015 and there
are many new features and layers to be added that will help with forest management
decisions within National Forests and Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR)
project areas. This new tool was specifically developed to address landscape scale issues
and help the NFS and State Foresters. We hope to add an NFS advisor to i-Tree to advise
how best this tool can be developed to meet NFS needs. More information is given later
on specific new features and layers we are developing for i-Tree Landscape.
Enhancements to i-Tree Design will also be made to help National and rural forest
managers with local scale forest design issues (e.g., fire protection around homes).

How do we partner with Davey Tree?

Davey Tree has been an integral partner in i-Tree development for over 15 years. We
partner with Davey Tree through a Challenge Cost Share agreement where Davey Tree
matches Forest Service funding. We have joint-funded positions within Forest Service and
Davey Tree offices that work on i-Tree development, dissemination and support.

What will the supplemental funding be used for?

Continued development of map and web-based tools, specifically i-Tree Landscape
and Design to be used nationally by rural and urban land managers, including
National Forest managers
Continued technical support for a growing domestic and international user base
Development of specific suggested management actions (best species and
locations) to reduce local risks to forests and human populations (e.g., climate
change, insects and diseases, fire, flooding, poor air quality, high temperatures,
etc.), enhance ecosystem services and create sustainable and diverse forests
Integrating new science on ecosystem services and values (e.g., air temperature
reduction, UV radiation reduction, wildlife habitat impacts, pollen, forest products,
etc.) to aid users in understanding, protecting and promoting the total value of
forests
Increased linkages with FIA data to aid in ecosystem service valuation of forests
nationally
More connections of forests to public health benefits
Mobile apps to engage citizens in forest stewardship, advocacy and education

7
What additional value will this new functionality bring to FS
(and specifically to NFS)?
Engagement of new audiences in understanding the value of forests, advocating
for forest protection and management, and improving forest stewardship
Ability to select species to enhance ecosystem services and reduce risks to forests
Ability to target specific locations for forest management (e.g., planting or
protection) to reduce risk to both forest and human populations, and enhance
forest health, ecosystem services and forest values
Capacity to determine planting rates necessary to create a sustainable forest
canopy for future generations
Improved understanding of numerous current and future risks to forest and human
health at the local scale across the nation and how forests and human health are
linked
Specifically for NFS:

Enhanced i-Tree Landscape and Design programs with additional features

developed collaboratively with NFS and partners to aid in National Forest
management decisions
i-Tree Landscape was designed to aid land management decisions across the nation. New
layers and abilities are to be added in the next few years. Currently users can see various
statistics related to forests, humans, ecosystem services and values within various
geographic boundaries (states, counties, Congressional Districts, Census places (e.g.,
cities), Census block groups (e.g., neighborhoods), National Forests, Ranger Districts,
Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) project boundaries and HUC 12
watersheds). Users can prioritize areas for management among these geographies based
on user-defined selections (e.g., areas with highest population and lowest tree cover). We
plan on moving the geographic resolution down to 30 meters to aid in targeting more
refined local areas.
Statistics currently included are 2001 / 2011 NLCD tree, impervious and land cover, high-
resolution tree and land cover (where available), Census data, wildfire hazard potential,
Forest to Faucets metrics and the benefits and value of forests related to carbon storage,
air pollution removal and reduced runoff. These data layers can be viewed over Google
and Bing maps and aerial images. With additional funding, more national data layers
could be added including:

Climate change data (future changes in temperature and precipitation)

Projected future development
Temperature difference data (Heat Island maps)
Wildland urban interface (WUI) data
National Insect and Disease Risk data
FIA data for forest areas (e.g., tree density, species composition, etc.)
Human health effects from pollution removal and reduced air temperatures due to
forests
Areas of environmental risk (poor and water quality, high ultraviolet radiation,
flooding)

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 Wildlife range data
Soils data
Roads
Streams and riparian zones
Elevation and slope
Additional watershed boundaries and 30 meter resolution analyses

i-Tree Landscape is integrating all of these national data sets into one easy-to-use system
that is accessible to all, where users can query the data and prioritize locations to
enhance or protect forest cover based on user-defined priorities or concerns. Additional
layers could be added specifically for National Forests based on collaborative
development discussions. i-Tree Design will also be enhanced and linked to i-Tree
Landscape to aid National Forests and rural land managers in local site specific forest
management decisions.