Developing a Nantucket Town Tree Inventory and Maps
| Sponsor: | Nantucket Department of Public Works (DPW) |  |
| Sponsor Liaison: | Andrew Patnode, Charlie Polachi | |
| Student Team: | Brendan Galvin, Jason Gee, Patrick “PJ” McDonnell, Alex Santagata | |
| Abstract: | Nantucket is proud of the town trees that grace its streets, especially its ancient elms. Unfortunately, disputes with property owners regularly arise due to the lack of clarity about the ownership of particular trees. The goal of this project was to create a comprehensive town tree inventory and online maps for use by property owners, developers, and the Town to minimize such disputes and facilitate tree maintenance. We collaborated with the Nantucket DPW to develop an inventory of 1,124 known town trees and consulted experts about community priorities. We recommend that the DPW updates the inventory and online maps periodically, adds new data fields as necessary, and uses them to develop tree maintenance and succession plans. | |
| Link: |
Nantucket Town Tree Inventory Final Report B24 |
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Executive Summary
Trees have been a ubiquitous presence in American cities for centuries and there are now some 5.5 billion urban trees in the U.S. contributing $18.3 billion annually in ecosystem services and other benefits (Nowak, et al, 2018, p. 164). The Nantucket Department of Public Works (DPW) and Tree Advisory Committee have primary responsibility for the management and care of town trees in Nantucket and have played a critical role in not only ensuring the wellbeing of Nantucket’s trees, but also educating people about their significance and history. While urban trees provide substantial infrastructural, monetary, and health benefits for the cities in which they take root, they also bring with them heavy maintenance costs and occasional ownership disputes. In most cases, these disputes occur because a town tree is stationed on a private property whose owner wishes to remove it but does not have authorization from the Town. These disputes are exacerbated by a historical lack of clarity from the Town regarding which trees are town-owned, and which are not.
Project Goal & Objectives
The goal of our project was to develop a database and easily accessible online maps of Nantucket’s town trees to aid the Department of Public Works (DPW), town officials, developers, property owners, and other members of the public in the identification and management of town trees. To complete this goal, we developed the following objectives:
- Evaluate current and best practices in developing tree inventories and maps in other
Massachusetts communities. - Review stakeholder opinions about current and previous efforts to inventory and manage
town trees in Nantucket. - Develop a system to collect and manage data on town trees for use by the Town.
- Develop easily accessible online maps to allow developers, homeowners, Town officials
and others to access town tree data.
Findings
We reviewed existing town tree records, which included each tree’s tag number, address, species, diameter at breast height (DBH), and condition. We designed a procedure to efficiently collect the tree data. We digitized the DPW’s tree data, recorded each tree’s coordinates with our phones, photographed each tree, and populated a Google Sheets database with this information. This Google Sheets database is shown in Figure A.
Figure A. Screenshot of the Google Sheets tree inventory.
Figure B. The finalized Google Map organized by species.
The finalized inventory created in conjunction with the DPW contains 1,124 total town trees with fields for the location (WKT), tag number, approximate address, species, DBH, and condition of each tree. We chose to store the data in a Google Sheets spreadsheet due to its ease of use when entering, retrieving and updating data, as well as flexibility across different devices. To represent the data geographically, we used Google Maps. Clicking on a point will open a window containing information from each of the six data fields in the Google Sheets document as shown in Figure B. Additionally, the trees on the map can be color-coded according to their various data fields. Google Sheets and Google Maps provide a convenient and accurate inventory for no cost. In addition to Google Maps, we created a layer on the Town’s GIS, showing only the positions of the trees acting as a resource for any developers and property owners who are looking to do any tree work. Prior to any unauthorized tree work or removal, the tree warden and DPW should still be contacted as the map still has some small gaps.
Figure C. Map and contemporary photograph of trees along Main Street.
Figure D. Map and contemporary photograph of trees in Siasconset.
As shown in Figures C and D, we found that most of the town trees were located near the island’s historic core and throughout Siasconset. Most of the trees lining Main Street in the town are elms which primarily include American elms, Buisman elms, and New Harmony elms. Most of the trees lining in Siasconset consist of maples, with sycamore maples on Main Street and Norway maples lining New Street.
Recommendations
Based on the findings from our fieldwork, the inventory and mapping exercises, and our interviews with experts and stakeholders, we make several recommendations for the DPW and other organizations. These include valuable use cases for the inventory, as well as updates that should be made to the inventory to ensure continual use.
Recommendation 1: We recommend the DPW develop a plan to continually update
the inventory.
We conducted remote interviews with the directors of town tree inventories in Natick,
MA; Arlington, MA; Providence, RI; and Boston, MA. These experts informed us that since
trees grow, change, and are trimmed, planted, and removed, the DPW should ensure that the
inventory is regularly amended so it remains a useful planning tool. A comprehensive inventory
should be conducted every 5–10 years. This comprehensive update can be conducted by trained
volunteers. The DPW should also ensure that when new trees are planted, they are tagged and
inventoried.
Recommendation 2: We recommend the DPW include additional data fields in the
inventory.
We also interviewed a variety of stakeholders on the island – such as conservationist organizations, town management, and the town arborist and tree warden – regarding our inventory, its uses, and desired data fields. We determined that the DPW should consider expanding the number of fields in the existing inventory. These include:
- the year a tree was planted;
- the other trees, structures, and property surrounding a tree;
- whether a tree is native to Nantucket; and
- the maintenance history of the tree.
If collected, these fields would have utility for public education on trees, policy decisions, tree maintenance, and conservation efforts on Nantucket.
Recommendation 3: We recommend the DPW develop tree maintenance and succession plans.
This inventory is a crucial asset for the development of a systematic tree maintenance plan for use by the town arborist and DPW. The DPW can use additional data fields to schedule regular tree pruning, list fertilizers or treatments needed, or note special actions needed due to damage or problematic surroundings. The DPW should also use this inventory to develop a succession plan for when trees are removed.
Recommendation 4: We recommend that other organizations utilize the inventory for conservationism, tours, or educational materials.
As we learned in our stakeholder interviews, the inventory also benefits parties outside of property owners and the DPW. This inventory could be used to develop educational materials regarding trees, an informative tree tour like those hosted by the Land & Water Council, or for conservationist outreach materials regarding native trees and other environmental priorities regarding trees.