MCR’s Tree Finder Game

MCR’s Tree Finder Game ~ How to paly.

In our day-to-day lives do we stop and look at the trees around us?

Trees play a significant role in our lives by providing us with oxygen, improving air quality, supporting biodiversity, aid in water conservation, help with temperature regulation, mitigate climate change impacts, reduce soil erosion, and provide numerous resources such as wood, food and fuel that are essential for human life and the environment. Not to mention they aid to the beauty of the landscape!

At Merrill Creek Reservoir (MCR) there are 51 different tree species. Of those, 10 are non-native species that have naturalized.

Along the trails at MCR there are 9 different individual trees that have FACES, whose job is not only to provide essential ecological services, but they are MCR’s Ecosystem Ambassadors!

Below are their names, where they reside along the trails, information on how to identify them, where they live and what they provide to help benefit communities throughout the region.

Keep your eyes open for them as you walk the trails – and when you see one, STOP. Take in the how the tree looks, its bark, its leaves, and branches, what other vegetation do you notice around it, what kind of habitat does it live in, are there any animals you can think of that would use this tree?

Remember, you can’t look for them on the trails if you are on your phone!

Lose reception – gain perspective!

How many of the 9 can you find out on the MCR trails?

*Game inspired by Tanya Sulikowski & J.R.R. Tolkien

Source of tree ID diagrams is US Forestry Service