Longview developing comprehensive map of city's trees; Longview, WA

Longview developing comprehensive map of city's trees:
In many parts of town, it's fairly obvious why Longview has been named a Tree City USA. Trees arch over roadways, shade the sidewalks and make it tough to find a good spot to watch fireworks.
But how much of the city does the tree canopy really cover?
The city of Longview plans to find out using high-resolution satellite imagery. By creating an aerial map of Longview's urban forest, which includes trees on private property, the city can evaluate where it needs to plant more trees to achieve or maintain a goal of a 30 percent canopy. In future years, the map can be used as a baseline for comparison.
'The larger goal is to continue our efforts to develop and preserve the urban forest,' Longview Parks and Recreation Director Rich Bemm said Tuesday.