Open AccessThe Assessment of Tree Priority at the United States Military Academy
Author(s) -
T. L. Green,
Ray Jones
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
arboriculture and urban forestry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.222
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 2155-0778
pISSN - 1935-5297
DOI - 10.48044/jauf.1999.039
Subject(s) - documentation , tree (set theory) , pruning , forest inventory , geography , environmental resource management , forestry , forest management , computer science , environmental science , mathematics , mathematical analysis , agronomy , biology , programming language
The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, attracts more than three million visitors each year. Trees dominate the 1,700-ac (700-ha) urban community that is part of a 16,000-ac (6,500-ha) heavily forested scenic hillside on the west bank of the Hudson River. A tree inventory was conducted in 1996 and 1997 to help develop a tree management program. This inventory included typical inventory elements used to determine maintenance priority: pruning, removal, and hazard assessment as well as species, size, and condition. This inventory, however, adds an additional element usually not found in other tree inventories—overall priority assessment. Overall tree priority values were determined by assigning specific values to each tree according to species, condition, specimen, function, heritage, memorial, historical, location, and special designation"(tree trail), then adding the values together for a total priority value. Priority values can help the landscape manager better identify the trees that have the most significance on the property and provide the documentation necessary for better allocation of funds to preserve and protect those trees considered the most important. This method of priority assessment can also be used with any tree inventory for college campuses, parks, golf courses, cemeteries, and municipalities.