Cleveland Heights, Ohio, City Fores...

Cleveland Heights, Ohio, City Forester Thomas Morgan has access to all the usual tools associated with his profession. Like anyone charged with the maintenance of large stands of tree he's got pruning shears, chain saws, mowers, sprinkler classifications and fertilizer spreaders. But Morgan has a leg up in succession most other urban foresters because he's also got a geographic information connected view (GIS).

A GIS integrates data and existings it in a graphic format, allowing urban foresters to outline tree location and related information forward computerized maps. Graphic symbols representing tree are displayed forward the maps and are linked to a database containing tree characteristic information for each tree in the inventory.

In communities that already have GIS, other departments can furnish maps and database information to forestry departments to be used in disentanglement planning or other city tree-related activities. Urban foresters can use GIS to analyze tree and their