One Tree Planted Projects Site

| Kevin McMaster

To complement our donor portal with One Tree Planted, SymGEO is pleased to announce a new project impact site experience that tracks the progress and positive environmental benefits of One Tree Planted nonprofit projects to date and features a data-driven dashboard using ArcGIS Dashboards. The dashboard has all current project metrics and locations that can be filtered by project type, status, location, or impact.

The site also features:

An interactive map that reveals the millions of trees planted around the world,

A deep dive into several project-specific stories showcasing the environmental benefits of planting trees,
A Forest Note video series that shows all the dedicated, determined work that goes into successful tree planting projects.

“The impact portal of global reforestation projects provides users with an immersive experience to navigate and better understand the impact One Tree Planted is having around the globe. Through interactive maps and insightful data visualization, it empowers users to witness the collective impact of reforestation efforts, fostering a deeper connection with the worldwide initiative to restore and preserve our planet’s vital ecosystems.“

– Geospatial Systems Manager, One Tree Planted

Talk to SymGEO today if your organization would like to feature projects or impacts using the power of Esri’s ArcGIS Online platform – we are certified experts and here to help.

Urban Tree Canopy Change Storymap

| Kevin McMaster

DDOT’s Urban Forestry Division (UFD) is the primary steward of Washington, D.C.’s ~175,000 public trees and has a mission of keeping this resource healthy, safe, and growing. Among many other benefits, these trees improve our air and water quality, cool our neighborhoods, and provide critical habitat for many animals. While D.C.’s Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) is already at an impressive 38%, the UFD has a goal of 40% by 2032. To learn more about the gains and losses experienced during the journey to 40%, SymGEO recently partnered with the UFD to create a StoryMap that explores example areas throughout D.C. and lays out the steps needed to reach the 40% canopy coverage goal.

This mobile-responsive story begins with an overview of the current canopy coverage in DC and explores select examples detailing areas of loss and areas of gain.

Areas of loss are typically due to commercial developments, new residential developments, supporting road and transportation infrastructure, or individual tree loss due to natural causes or storm damage.

Areas of gain can be attributed to plantings along commercial corridors, or in new residential developments to help alleviate the urban heat island effect, or due to the natural growth of trees over time.

Finally, a call to action is made for homeowners to request their own free shade-providing tree, or to report an open planting box ready for a new tree.

Talk to SymGEO industry experts today if your agency or organization is interested in community engagement with the power of Esri’s ArcGIS StoryMap technology – we are a certified Esri business partner and are here to help.

Wood Reuse Storymap

| Kevin McMaster

Did you know that the Urban Forestry Division (UFD) in Washington D.C. offers schools and parks the opportunity to enjoy a variety of useful products to improve school grounds and parks at no cost? Made from upcycled public trees, these finely crafted benches, stumps, and other seating structures serve as living classrooms and natural storage lockers for carbon, all the while connecting students to the natural resources around them. Learn more about this fantastic program with a new StoryMap produced by SymGEO in collaboration with UFD below.

Talk to our industry experts today if your agency or organization is interested in community engagement with the power of Esri’s ArcGIS StoryMap technology – SymGEO is a certified Esri business partner and is here to help.

Heritage Tree Relocations in D.C.

| Kevin McMaster

Urban trees in the city are critical to our well-being. Among many other benefits, trees improve our air and water quality, cool our neighborhoods, and provide nurturing habitats for birds, bees, and numerous wildlife. Large trees provide greater environmental benefits than smaller trees and are protected from unnecessary damage or removal by the Urban Forest Preservation Act and the Tree Canopy Protection Act in the District of Columbia.

Learn all about the how, why, and when large “heritage” trees in D.C. have to be moved out of harm’s way during construction projects in a new StoryMap developed in collaboration with the Urban Forestry Division of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT).

Heritage tree relocation – video by Jacob Fenston / WAMU

Talk to our industry experts today if your agency or organization is interested in community engagement with the power of Esri’s StoryMap technology – SymGEO is a certified Esri business partner and is here to help.

DC State Forest Action Plan

| Kevin McMaster

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT)’s Urban Forestry Division (UFD) is the primary steward of Washington DC’s 170,000+ public trees and has a mission of keeping this resource healthy, safe, and growing. Among many other benefits, urban trees improve the air and water quality, cool the neighborhoods, and provide critical habitat for birds, bees, and urban wildlife. As part of their long-term statewide forest resource strategy, the UFD has created the DC State Forest Action Plan (SFAP). This plan is a comprehensive roadmap for investing federal, District, and private resources into managing and maintaining the urban forest.

To help highlight the achievements and findings of the plan, SymGEO created the DC SFAP Hub site, full of condensed information from the full report.

The DC SFAP Hub site integrates numerous data sets, Dashboards, StoryMaps, and other helpful visualizations to support the findings of the report and long-term strategy.

Key accomplishments from the last ten years are presented with links to further information and full documentation.

Explore the DC SFAP Hub site to learn more about D.C.’s forest conditions and trends, threats to forest lands and resources, priority issues and areas, and the long-term urban forest strategy.

Talk to SymGEO industry experts today if your agency or organization is interested in community engagement with the power of Esri’s ArcGIS Hub, Dashboards, or ArcGIS StoryMaps – we are here to help!

DC Cherry Tree Viewer

| Kevin McMaster

Did you know that there are almost 10,000 cherry trees outside of the tidal basin to see throughout D.C.? SymGEO was honored to help DDOT build the DC Local Cherry Tree Finder leveraging the Urban Forestry Division‘s tree inventory and ArcGIS Online‘s configurable applications to quickly assemble and launch in time for peak blooming.

If you missed it this year, don’t worry, there’s always next spring season!

Talk to our industry experts today if your agency or organization is interested in community engagement with the power of Esri’s ArcGIS mapping solutions – SymGEO is here to help!

Pop-up Arboretum

| Kevin McMaster

An arboretum is a place where trees, shrubs, and other plants are grown for scientific and educational purposes. A park typically has trees, shrubs, and other plants for the enjoyment of families and friends. Why not have an arboretum in a park? Genius! Check out the first “pop-up arboretum” at Oxon Run Park in Ward 8 by the District Department of Transportation’s (DDOT) Urban Forestry Division. SymGEO is pleased to help launch the Pop-Up Arboretum website with all the specifics of what amazing things can be found at this natural outdoor exhibit.

The site is built using ArcGIS Hub technology and features an ArcGIS StoryMap designed to help guide people on their outdoor educational adventure. The site also links to scientific information about each tree species provided by the Smithsonian Institute’s Plant Explorer.

Signs are posted on or near the trees in English and Spanish with QR Codes that link back to the Pop-Up Arboretum website for further information. Be sure to enjoy our natural environment while learning all about the trees at Oxon Run Park!

Talk to our industry experts today if your agency or organization is interested in community engagement with the power of Esri’s ArcGIS Hub or ArcGIS StoryMaps – SymGEO is here to help!

MoveDC Snapshot StoryMap

| Kevin McMaster

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) has launched moveDC 2021, the long-range multi-modal transportation plan for Washington DC. As part of this launch, DDOT held Virtual Townhall meetings to discuss the transportation network’s existing conditions within the District and solicit resident input on DDOT’s goals and policies.

We were very excited to see our moveDC Snapshot StoryMap featured prominently during the Townhall meetings! Produced in partnership between SymGEO, Kimley-Horn, Foursquare ITP, and DDOT, this dynamic, interactive, and engaging method of presentation was perfect to capture the energy and data that has gone into moveDC 2021.

“Wow, this looks so good in StoryMap form! I love it!”

– DDOT Project Manager

We used the sidecar functionality of the latest ArcGIS StoryMap framework as a key component to deliver both guided, instructional narrative and interactive mapping at the same time. Mapping symbology was set in the ArcGIS Online web maps while complex legends were imported as images to facilitate visual interpretation of the data.

Talk to our industry experts today if your agency or organization is interested in community engagement with the power of Esri’s ArcGIS StoryMap technology – SymGEO is here to help!