TREE MEASUREMENT GUIDE - Manitoba Forestry Association

HOW YOU CAN MEASURE THE HEIGHT OF A TREESince climbing the tree to measure its height, is not recommended for safetyreasons, foresters have developed several other methods that keep your feetplanted firmly on the ground! The method you will use is referred to as theStick Method, or the Eyeball Method.1. Using a straight stick (metre stick works great), grasp it in a way thatwhen you hold it up, the portion above your hand is equal to the exactlength of your arm. Hold your arm out horizontally in front of you.2. Walk away from the tree to a point where, by holding the stick vertically at arm’s length, the entire tree’svertical centerline is hidden behind the stick. The top of your stick will line up with the tip of the crownand the bottom of the stick where it meets your hand will line up with where the base of the trunk meetsthe ground. This method works best when you are at the same elevation as the base of the tree.3. Use the measuring tape provided to measure the distance between your feet and the base of the tree -this distance will be approximately the same as the tree’s height.4. Record this measurement.HOW YOU CAN MEASURE THE CROWN SPREAD OF A TREEThe crown spread is measuring the average spread of the branches of the tree that make up its canopy. To takethis measurement you will need to:1. Use a measuring tape or string of suitable length and measure the widest part of the crown of the treefrom periphery to periphery.2. Record this measurement.3. Repeat this procedure for the narrowest part of the crown.4. The average of these two measurements will be the crown spread of the tree.Crown spread = Narrowest Part of Crown (AB) + Widest part of crown (CD)2Source - http://www.americanforests.org/resources/bigtrees/measure.phpPAGE 4 – MANITOBA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION – TREE MEASURMENT GUIDE