The town of Sahuarita wants to know how many trees it has and how healthy they are.
Over the next three Saturdays, volunteers will help give Sahuarita the answers. They will be assisting with a tree inventory made possible by a grant from the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.
The volunteers had a morning of training Aug. 29, and will go out in small groups with a trained leader to get the details on trees on public land, in parks and on roadways.
While the leaders records information on an app created for the inventory, another group member will record the same information in writing, so all details are backed up. The group will record the location on a map, estimate the height, measure the diameter of the trunk, record the scientific name and make a judgment about the health of each tree.
A photo will be taken for the app. Then a group member will tag the tree by spraying a small dot near the base with florescent orange paint so the tree isnβt counted twice.
Laura Hester, Sahuaritaβs Park and Facilities Manager, is in charge of the project and compiled a collection of photos of local trees with their scientific names to help volunteers with identification.
Dean Cale, director of operations for Santa Rita Landscaping, which maintains Sahuarita parks, was on hand at the training to teach volunteers how to judge the health of the trees. John Garcia of Sahuarita Public Works taught leaders how to set up and use the app.
The inventory will help the town know which trees need to be replaced, where more trees may be needed and which trees may need attention.
During the training, the volunteers broke into three groups to inventory the trees at Anamax Park with Hester and Cale available to answer questions.
By the time the project is finished, the volunteers will know a Chilean mesquite from a Honey mesquite and a Fan-Tex ash from a Velvet ash just by looking.
