As part of Boston’s first ever Urban Forest Plan, a citywide inventory of public street trees was begun in spring 2021. This is data on public street trees as of May 2021. The Boston Parks and Recreation Department is working on ways to more routinely update data and provide an easy way for pubic viewing of updated information. This plan is different from the inventory The Garden Club of the Back Bay has conducted over many years, and which is available on our website www.backbaytrees.org. Our Club is currently amassing information on our alley trees, not included in the Boston plan, but the Boston plan, accessible at https://boston.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=c9de58cb207f448a8212163812d91626, is more far reaching. The easiest way to negotiate the Boston site is to type an address in the box on the upper left corner, which zooms you in to a map of the area at and surrounding the address. Then click on the little colored boxes along the street. For instance, a red dot at 423 Beacon Street expanded to a pop up box with information that there is a silver linden there, scientific name Tilia tomentosa, 37 inch diameter, and a tree identification number. We encourage you to visit and poke around the site. The more people who visit, the more likely the City will continue to devote time and funds to the project.
