The City of Bloomington is undergoing a comprehensive assessment of its trees and public places where it could plant them in the future.

The city is working with Ohio-based Davey Resource Group on the project, which started last week and will continue through April. Lee Huss, Urban Forester for the city of Bloomington, says the urban forest assessment will serve as an important update for the city.

“It helps from the standpoint – inventories are snapshots of how the program has evolved," Huss said. "This is actually our third inventory system since I’ve been here with the city.”

The new data will be used to compare data collected in two previous tree inventories in 1994 and 2007.

Arborists will record data on the condition, size and species of nearly 18,000 publicly owned trees.

Bloomington became a Tree City in 1984, and Huss says the project is part of a continued commitment to urban forestry.

"Bloomington has always been a tree-loving community long before I showed up as its urban forester," Huss said.

The project will allow staff to prioritize tree planting needs and identify trees that pose a risk to people or property.

The total cost for the assessment is $125,250.