Over the last six weeks, eight master naturalists have spent over 37 hours working in the shade of James Madison University campus trees – identifying trees to species, collecting data on each tree’s health and maintenance needs, and assisting the Edith J Carrier Arboretum as staff begin the process of logging trees there. Over 100 of the specimen trees in the arboretum have been logged into the tree inventory map. A specimen tree at the arboretum could be one that is planted singularly as a focus of attention. It could be noteworthy because of its size, age, species, flower, bark, form or rarity. What is most often the case, the specimen trees at the arboretum are used for educational purposes during guided tours and where tree labels are placed to introduce visitors to different species of trees.

On the main campus, the tree inventory efforts have been focused on identifying the trees that were initially logged into the map, but the species name, tree health and maintenance data were not added into the database. There were 3,356 trees needing identification and additional tree health data added and with the help of these master naturalists, we have identified 582 of those trees, leaving our total at 2,774 trees! We are looking forward to getting the remaining of those tree identified before the end of the year. If you haven’t yet joined us in this effort, it is never too late to come on out to our inventory days at the arboretum or on our main campus. We would love to share the shade with you!

– Ali Sloop, JMU Stormwater Compliance Specialist, June 2023