Join the Centerville-Washington Park District in a search for the biggest trees in your community’s BIG backyard, also known as your parks! The fun will kick off on “Love a Tree Day” — Tuesday, May 16.
How to Participate
- Download the iNaturalist app to your smartphone or create an account on your computer.
- From May 16 – June 13, search for the biggest trees in Centerville-Washington Park District parks and record them in the app. Within the app, click on “new observation,” or the green circle with the add button.
- You will need to take a photo, document the tree’s DBH (diameter at breast height) and add a #CWPDBigTree tag in the notes section of the observation. If you don’t have a smartphone, you can participate by uploading digital camera images onto the iNaturalist website. Don’t worry if you don’t know the type of tree, iNaturalist will help identify it! Once done, be sure to submit your observation!
- For instructions on measuring tree DBH (diameter), watch this video.
- For a list of CWPD parks and their locations, visit our Find a Park page.
- For a brief tutorial on how to take images for identification, watch the video below. A picture of the entire tree is helpful as well as a close-up photo for identification.
How to Take Better Photos for iNaturalist from iNaturalist on Vimeo.
- For more information about how to use the app, please watch this video. It’s under two minutes!
How to Make an Observation on iNaturalist using our Mobile App from iNaturalist on Vimeo.
- You are welcome to search the CWPD Big Tree Project within the app and join! Be sure to check this page for the current standings of the biggest trees found. The website will be updated weekly!
The search for the biggest trees will conclude on Tuesday, June 13. We will update the CWPD Big Tree website each week with the current winners! Friday, June 16, we will award each of the three biggest trees with a medal of honor! We will also enter anyone who participates in the search in a raffle for a tree-themed award basket!
Check back for the final announcement of the winning trees and for our celebration plans!