PULLMAN – Capital Planning and Development is continuing the long process of inventorying all the trees on the WSU Pullman campus. Cynthia Arbour, campus planner, has recorded about two-thirds of the campus, about 7,000 trees. She predicts there will be more than 10,000 trees in the inventory when it’s completed.
The project helps with maintenance and future planning of the campus by providing accurate information on all the trees on campus.
“It’s really helpful to know if we are looking to put in a new building or some new infrastructure, what trees will be impacted by that project and plan accordingly,” said Arbour.
To get such an accurate collection of data, she uses a handheld computer and GPS technology to input coordinates of trees onto a map of the Pullman campus. In addition, she uses a specialized tape measure that is calibrated to measure the diameter of tree trunks.
Along with inventorying the trees, Arbour calculates the estimated value of trees that are going to be removed due to a project, and compares that value to the cost of replacement landscaping. Most projects return the same value or greater to the original site, but if that is not possible, additional trees are planted elsewhere on the campus.”