How Openlands Modernized Urban Tree Planting with Map-Based Volunteer Coordination
Since 1963, Openlands has served as a pillar of urban greening and tree planting across the Chicago region, partnering with cities, neighborhoods, and thousands of TreeKeepers volunteers to plant over 9,000 trees and counting. As their efforts grew, so did the challenge of coordinating large-scale planting days with multiple stakeholders—from municipal crews and nonprofits to dozens of local volunteers seeing each site for the first time.
The Challenge: Getting Everyone on the Same Map
Organizing large planting events meant creating and sharing maps to designate planting zones and tasks. This once-manual process led to confusing, outdated files, wrong addresses, and frustration in the field. There was a need for a solution that delivered clarity and streamlined coordination for all involved.
The Solution: Custom Maps in Just Clicks
With the Print Map feature in TreePlotter INVENTORY, Openlands transformed its planning process. Now, staff generate clean, up-to-date, custom maps in just a few clicks, showing:
- Tree locations by type or status
- Partner-specific planting zones
- Clear boundaries for volunteer groups
These maps are ready before events start—eliminating ambiguity and last-minute changes, and making it easy for volunteer group leaders to get oriented right away.
The Impact: Smoother Events, Stronger Partnerships
- Faster preparation with fewer mistakes
- Enhanced volunteer experience
- 2,200 trained partners now coordinated more effectively
- Strengthened reputation as Chicago’s go-to urban forestry leader
As Senior Forestry Program Manager Tom Ebeling says: “Creating a custom map has become an essential part of preparing for every single planting day. It provides absolute clarity to our volunteer group leaders who will be seeing the site for the very first time on the morning of the planting.”
Want to see how map-based tools can smarten your volunteer coordination and grow greener communities? Discover TreePlotter INVENTORY in action with Openlands and other urban leaders—book a demo today.
“Creating a custom map has become an essential part of preparing for every single planting day. It helps us visualize the flow of the day and provides absolute clarity to our volunteer group leaders who will be seeing the site for the very first time on the morning of the planting.”
-Tom Ebeling, Senior Forestry Program Manager, Openlands