The Montana Department of Natural Resources Urban and Community Forestry
Program (DNRC UCF) has compiled a statewide Urban Tree Inventory of public street and park trees from sixty communities. These Montana communities are distributed across a vast land area of nearly 700 miles, and include a range of population sizes from over 104,000 in Billings to 126 in Judith Gap. Climate patterns differ between the moist, forested northwest portion of the state, and the dry, windy plains of eastern Montana. Additionally, a varied range of interest, expertise and understanding of urban forestry occurs across the communities of the state.
The Urban and Community Forestry Program is seeking a vendor to provide a Statewide
Urban Forest Assessment of public trees using the Inventory. The assessment will evaluate the composition, condition, and benefits of Montana’s urban forests. The project will also serve as basis for setting future management goals for both the state urban forestry program and individual communities. This project will highlight the importance of public trees in Montana communities and serve as a catalyst to further develop urban forest programs. It will also help state and local officials to better understand the value of the urban forest resource as critical green infrastructure and to support improvements and increase abilities to manage it.
The goals of the Assessment are to:
 Determine the current composition and condition of Montana’s urban forests

Quantify the ecosystem services Montana ’s urban forest provides

Provide an improved understanding of the urban forest and the benefits it provides to the general public and public officials
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Identify new opportunities to increase benefits to communities and the state of
Montana
Work to be performed includes:
1. Statewide Urban Forest Assessment (40-60 pages) Electronic version made available for reproduction and future updates
2. Statewide Prospectus/ Executive Summary (10-20 pages), and Powerpoint
Presentation (15-20 slides)
3. Community Factsheets – 2-page (1-page double-sided) inventory summary on each community
4. Webinar presentation (1 hour), recorded for future reference
5. Optional Tasks of enhanced inventory geodatabase, models and forecasts
The contractor will work from an existing database provided by the DNRC UCF that includes complete street tree inventories from approximately 60 communities with over 150,000 tree, stump and planting space records. Use of the i-Tree software program as an analysis tool is preferred. Document shall be written at a level of readability appropriate to the general public.
Photos for use in the Assessment will be provided by the DNRC UCF and the contractor. a. The contractor will analyze data and provide information including but not limited to:

i. Tree Population – species distribution, land use, relative age distribution, condition, available planting spaces ii. Economic and Ecosystem Benefits – structural and functional values, environmental values such as carbon storage, air & water quality, pollution control, energy, wildlife/habitat, importance values, cost-benefit comparisons iii. Potential urban forest health impacts – pathogen and pest proximity and risk, maintenance needs b. The contractor will provide recommendations on ways to maximize urban forest benefits, suggestions on statewide program direction to help improve urban forest policies on all levels, information for further planning and management. Suggestions on tree plantings and tree management in a changing climate, discussion on comparable state programs in western and eastern parts of the country and their urban forest conditions and trends shall be included in the Assessment.
The contractor will: a. Summarize highlights of the Assessment, such as overall urban forest value ($), environmental benefits, species diversity, condition, etc., b. Provide recommendations on methods to invest in the urban forest, understanding the economic limitations in a largely rural state and c. Generate a broad comparison of community urban forests across Montana d. Produce a powerpoint presentation reflecting the statewide prospectus for DNRC to utilize in further education and outreach efforts. Provided in .PPT format via thumb drive
The contractor will use informative, creative graphics to illustrate the benefits and highlights of each community’s urban forest inventory. For example, an illustration of a tree may be subdivided to show dollar amounts of storm water runoff, property value increase, carbon dioxide reduction, air quality improvement, energy savings and the dominant tree species in the community. For an example, refer to the fact sheet template from Wisconsin DNR at https://www.itreetools.org/resources/why.php
.
3.2.4 Webinar Presentation
As a final task, the contractor will present highlights and findings of the statewide assessment, either using the powerpoint presentation (3.2.2. d) or new one designed for webinar format. The webinar will be 1-hour in length and target a broad audience consisting of DNRC staff, public officials, and urban forest managers. This presentation will cover the goals listed in 3.1, provide fresh insights to motivate action, and include relevant screenshots, images, and graphics. This webinar will be recorded and saved in electronic format.
The contractor is encouraged to produce additional deliverables that complement the Statewide
Urban Forest Assessment, Statewide Prospectus/Executive Summary and Community
Factsheets.

Examples include, but are not limited to: a. Data Enhancements i. The contractor will report, create or assign climate data such as average high and low temperatures during growing season and winter season; wind speed average and gusts; and hardiness zone by inventoried communities b. Models and Forecasts
The contractor will use inventory data to: i. Model future tree growth and mortality using specific management scenarios, i.e. no action (no planting, maintenance, etc.); status quo (use estimates on new tree plantings, growth rates, etc.); proactive management (new trees to increase canopy, established maintenance cycle, etc.). ii. Track environmental changes over time in relation to canopy loss, urban development, insect or disease, and temperature increases
The Department of Natural Resources Forestry Assistance Bureau (DNRC FAB) will:
1. Provide inventory data (ESRI File Geodatabase or similar format), existing DNRC UCF required tasks, community reports, GIS Cities and Towns data
2. Provide state and local urban forestry program information
3. Provide urban inventory photos