What is a mapping party?

TreeKIT teaches people how to simply and accurately map the location and dimensions of their treebeds, as well as the species and diameter of the trees growing in them.

Groups such as neighborhood associations, youth programs, and environmental stewardship organizations work with the TreeKIT team to schedule a mapping party. On the day of the event, we bring measuring wheels, tape measures, clipboards, worksheets, and tree identification aids to a central meeting place organized by the group. The orientation takes place outside on a street corner for 45 minutes or until everyone gets the hang of it, then the volunteers form teams of 3 or 4 to spend the afternoon rolling tape measures around blocks in their neighborhood and naming trees. At the end of the day, the teams check back in, drop off the equipment, and go home to enter the field data into our online form.

After the initial workshop, groups can continue to map any additional blocks with our free downloadable materials and online tools — sometimes it is easiest for groups with a large stewardship area to purchase their own measuring wheel.

The TreeKIT team is actively working to speed up the time between data entry and published data.
All TreeKIT data is released into the public domain.