[mapguide-announce] MapGuide Open Source helps San Francisco protect the urban forest

[Robert Bray]

The City of San Francisco’s Department of Public Works’ Bureau of Urban 
Forestry (BUF), the Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF), Autodesk, and 
Online Mapping Solutions have worked together to develop a city-wide, 
dynamic online map of the city’s growing number of trees. The San 
Francisco Urban Forest Mapping System (http://www.sftreemap.org) was 
developed using a combination of open source and commercial mapping 
technologies, with MapGuide Open Source (http://mapguide.osgeo.org) 
forming the central element. By integrating their two data sets into 
one, BUF and FUF now have a vital, technology-based tool for tree 
maintenance and management, enabling urban forest managers to inventory 
and map existing, future and past tree locations. The map will also be 
an online tool, allowing citizens to access tree data, report problems, 
upload personal tree information, such as photos and stories, and add 
information about privately owned trees to the city inventory. The new 
site will be launched as part of the Mayor’s Arbor Day events on March 
10, 2007. For more information about the project, visit 
http://www.urbanforestmap.org.