PlanIT Geo™ Donates Software for Treecare Industry Day of Service

Volunteers from the treecare industry gather annually to clean up national cemeteries around the country and their work will now be supported by TreePlotter™ INVENTORY.

August 19, 2021 | Alec Sabatini

Urban tree canopy assessment in Rochester, NY, USA

Trees have a way of bringing people together. When residents want to give back to their community, they often do so by planting new trees or gathering together to clean up a park. People feel a connection to their local trees and green spaces and want to see them taken care of. Saluting Branches is a nonprofit that gathers treecare and landscape professionals together for an annual day of service in our most sacred of green spaces, national cemeteries, the final resting place for our soldiers and veterans.

Many of us know about Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, but the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration actually manages a total of 155 national cemeteries located in 42 states and Puerto Rico. For one day every year treecare and landscape professionals around the country donate their time, equipment, and expertise to make their nearby national cemetery a safe and beautiful environment for the troops and all who visit.

Saluting Branches was started by Rainbow Treecare out of Minnesota in 2015 and has grown every year since. The 2020 event had to be virtual, but there were more than 3,800 volunteers participating in 2019. The seventh annual Saluting Branches day of service will take place on September 22, 2021 and hopes to be the biggest turnout yet.

Volunteer registration is still open. Everyone is welcome to volunteer — solo or in groups/established crews. There are plenty of opportunities including climbing, removals, clearing of invasives, pruning, PHC, tree planting, mulching, and tree inventory.

PlanIT geo offers complete urban forestry solutions

PlanIT Geo Joins In With TreePlotter INVENTORY

PlanIT Geo’s own Beth Corrigan has been volunteering with Saluting Branches for the past 6 years at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elmwood, IL.

“When I arrive at the property just after dawn to set up, there is a wonderful sense of peace and being a part of something great. I know that in the next 8-10 hours, we will assess hazards, provide pruning to protect the tree canopy, and in the process beautify a national treasure so that veterans and their families can safely visit. Each year the number of volunteers and sponsorships increases, allowing us to plant more trees. The deep satisfaction we get each year from this event is unmatched. ”

Beth Corrigan, TreePlotter Account Manager, volunteering at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in 2019.

This year PlanIT Geo is taking an extra step to support the great work of Saluting Branches by donating our flagship GIS tree management software, TreePlotter™ INVENTORY, for use at all 80 volunteer locations. Just as other treecare companies are donating their chainsaws and chippers, we wanted to donate something from our special area of expertise.

The 80 National Cemeteries Saluting Branches volunteers will be working at in 2021.

This software can help Saluting Branches Site Leaders be more effective in their planning and tracking of tree work, as they take on the complex task of organizing a group of volunteers, with varying skill levels, to have a monumental impact in just one day!

As the Day of Service continues to grow, there has been an increase in non-technical arborists wishing to participate. Several corporations, such as Target and UnitedHealth Group, have sent dozens of volunteers to assist at Saluting Branches sites. To accommodate this growth Saluting Branches is expanding the reach of it’s projects to include more non-technical service options. This includes a 1,589 tree planting initiative to commemorate the 1,589 Vietnam War POWs and MIAs that are still unaccounted for.

Tree inventorying is another service option for volunteers not climbing, chipping, or operating a chainsaw. With TreePlotter INVENTORY now available at all sites, volunteers can use tablets or smartphones to count and assess trees within the cemetery. This data is updated in real time on the TreePlotter dashboard and will provide invaluable information for future Days of Service.

The Fort Snelling National Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries that has a completed tree inventory. Each tree on the property has its location tagged along with species and size information. Site leaders can then use this data, visualized in a web-accessible map, to plan out volunteer objectives and track progress.

Fort Snelling National Cemetery’s tree inventory dashboard in TreePlotter INVENTORY.

Can’t Wait to See You There!

PlanIT Geo is proud to be able to participate in this day of service for veterans and their families. We applaud the great work of the Saluting Branches organization and the thousands of volunteers who are getting up early on September 22nd and spending their day honoring our nation’s heroes.

Explore the Saluting Branches TreePlotter app here

Find your local volunteer location now

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