Cataloguing Alberta’s Heritage Trees
In 2019, with support from the Edmonton Heritage Council, I embarked on a year-long project to catalogue Edmonton’s heritage trees and plants. While doing so, I came across Lethbridge arborist Maureen Sexsmith-West, and the two of us teamed up to start the Alberta Tree Register.
The Alberta Tree Register attempts to pick up where past initiatives left off. Initiatives such as Heritage Trees of Alberta (2008) and Alberta Trees of Renown (1986) collected hundreds of Alberta heritage trees, but we believe many plants remain hidden and unrecognized. The Alberta Tree Resiter, unlike past efforts, allows anyone to nominate their favourite Alberta trees directly to the database for admin approval.
Adding A Tree To the Alberta Tree Register
Step 1: Search The Alberta Tree Register
It’s worth checking to see if your tree is already featured in the database. There are two ways to do this, but zooming in on the Alberta Tree Register Map is easiest. The second way is by directly searching the database.
My favourite thing to do is zoom into my City, community, or block to see what’s around me. When visiting a new town, I’ll often check out the map in advance.
Step 2: Add Your Tree to the Alberta Tree Register
Once you’ve verified that the tree isn’t already in the Register, use the following link or embedded form to submit a new tree. Before you can add trees, you’ll need to verify your email. Email verification helps us prevent spam and attaches your contact information to the trees you submit. Providing an email will give you the ability to create an account and receive email notifications when your trees are added or updated.
Step 3: Tree Data
The Tree Nomination Form has many fields, but the only required ones are category (single tree, grove of trees, etc), location data, and description.
The form will also ask for the tree’s genus and species, neighbourhood, photos, and tree measurements. Fill in the form as best as possible.
Give your tree a specific name, such as “Holowach Horsechestnut” or “Maggie’s Grade 1 Tree.” Trees will be labelled by common name and location, if no name is assigned.
Once you add a tree, our admin will be notified. We’ll be able to verify some of the data and make the tree public. Once public, the tree will appear on the Alberta Tree Register map.
You can learn more about the Alberta Tree Register by visiting AlbertaTree.ca.