Calculating the worth of a tree

This from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources:

SW Ohio Folks,

Have you ever wondered what your trees are worth? Not just what they are worth to you for the beauty they provide, but is their real value in dollars and cents? I’d like to invite you to try the National Tree Benefit Calculator, a project developed by Casey Trees (www.caseytrees.org) and Davey Tree Expert Co. (www.davey.com).

The calculator was conceived to allow anyone the ability to approximate the value of individual street trees and trees in a residential landscape. The calculator is located at www.treebenefits.com, and is free to use.

As an example, I used a tree in my own backyard, a northern red oak. After you go to the site, enter your zip code, select your species and enter its DBH (diameter at breast height -foresters measure tree diameter at 4.5’ from the ground). I pressed enter and immediately had information about my tree. At first, the site tells me that my tree provides $105 in overall benefits to my property each year. It also tells me that if this tree is cared for then by the time my daughter is a tween, it will be providing $125 in annual benefits.

That is interesting, but not nearly as much when I click on additional tabs. My oak intercepts 4,509 gallons of rainwater each year, reducing the amount of urban storm water runoff. This tree also conserves 102 kilowatt hours of energy each year. I’d argue that this is a conservative estimate because the tree is on the south side of my property, but the calculator doesn’t allow us to go into this much detail. Finally, just this one tree reduces atmospheric carbon dioxide by 817 pounds each year.

Keeping this tree healthy benefits me in many ways, including helping me reduce my carbon footprint. I’d like to encourage you to visit the site and find out what your tree’s real value is to you – I think you will be pleasantly surprised. This is a great tool for communities as well as residences.

Wendi Van Buren
Regional Urban Forester
Ohio Department of Natural Resources