Resources for Volunteers

Volunteer Roles

Volunteers are the backbone of the Tree Inventory Project. Over the years, this program has offered a variety of ways to get involved:

• Data Collectors show up at workdays ready to inventory trees! No experience necessary.

• Team Leaders attend classroom and field training prior to the inventory season in order to learn how to identify and measure the trees they find. At workdays, Team Leaders lead 1-3 Data Collectors in the field.

• Neighborhood Tree Teams take what we've learned from the Inventory to develop a Tree Plan as well as projects to improve their corner of the urban forest. Learn more about the Neighborhood Tree Teams program.

Resources For Team Leaders

Volunteers have identified over 300 species of trees across the city! The Tree Inventory Manual and Team Leader Presentation below show you what we measured, the tools we used, and guides for how to identify many of the most common trees in Portland.  

Download Field Maps for mobile data collection

• Field Maps for iOS
• Field Maps for Android
• Quick Reference Guide - a readable manual on using the Field Maps application

Tree Identification Resources

• Tree vs. Not a Tree
• Freshen up on your Tree Identification!

Genus Cheat Sheets: 

• Abies
• Acer
• Betula
• Carpinus
• Cedrus
• Cornus
• Crataegus
• False Cedars
• Fraxinus
• Picea
• Pinus
• Platanus
• Prunus
• Quercus
• Tilia

Characteristic Cheat Sheets:

• Opposite Simple Leaves
• Alternate Simple Leaves
• Alternate Compound Leaves
• Evergreen Conifers
• Deciduous Conifers

Measuring Tree Diameter

• How to Measure a Tree
• Multi-Stem Trunk Calculator

Condition

How healthy is the tree? Follow the guidelines set in the Inventory Protocol to determine a trees overall wellbeing.

Site Evaluation

Site Evaluation Cheat Sheet: determining site type and measuring site width.

Resources from Park Tree Inventory