Photo By Adam Skoczylas Volunteers Jim Olivetti, Arlington regional master naturalist, and Lynn Koch, a master gardener and tree steward, note the condition and size of a tree near JBM-HH Headquarters building on Fort Myer as master naturalist Brynn Slate measures the diameter of the magnolia tree.

Kristie Lalire, cultural resources program manager, JBM-HH environmental directorate, said the only way to understand what trees need management is to know what we have.

‘‘This is the first time we’ve conducted a tree inventory on Fort Myer.” Lalire said her team hopes to produce an electronic record of the inventory.

The volunteers are tree stewards from Arlington and Alexandria, Arlington regional master naturalists and Arlington County master gardeners. Casey Trees, a nonprofit Washington, D.C., organization, dedicated to preserving the tree canopy in the capital region, is also involved.

Lalire said the volunteers meet three mornings each week during the project and will inventory the JBM-HH trees until late September. ‘‘We were expecting to conduct inventory into October when the leaves start falling off trees, but the project is going so well and we’re making such good time, we’ll probably finish early,” Lalire said.

‘‘There will be some wooded areas for inventory after September that are too thick to currently inventory, however,” she added.

Working from aerial maps, the volunteers go out in teams and identify specific trees.

Information noted during the inventory includes: species, diameter and condition of each tree.

Volunteer Lynn Koch, master gardener and tree steward, said ‘‘We note hazardous limbs, areas which need mulching and diseased and dead trees as part of the condition on the inventory.”

Jim Olivetti and Brynn Slate, both master naturalists and volunteers at JBM-HH were out early Tuesday morning with Koch. Slate said ‘‘I took the training course to be a master naturalist in the spring, and since we are required to do 40 service hours annually, I felt this was a good opportunity to gain experience in identifying trees and learn more.”

Lalire explained the tree inventory project began in May at Fort McNair. ‘‘The landscape at McNair is part of the post’s design and we wanted to identify areas where there were trees to be replaced.

‘‘Volunteer Steve Campbell, Arlington County tree commission member and volunteer coordinator for this project has been instrumental in getting information out to the volunteers and assisting with coordinating that side of things,” said Lalire.

She said once the inventory is complete, it will give the environmental team information on which trees need replacing and which need extra attention.

To date, Lalire said five trees at Fort Myer were on the poor list as dead trees needing replacing.

‘‘We hope to also give classes on pruning. There’s definitely a need in this area,” said Lalire.

The tree inventory also helps the environmentalists know more about invasive and native trees at JBM-HH.

‘‘Native species require less water,” said Lalire.

‘‘A new project I’m interested in starting is to introduce landscape that’s native to Virginia, so we use less water.”

Campbell said ‘‘I’m very glad JBM-HH has an interest in taking on this important environmental project. This is a great opportunity to help the military community develop a tree policy in a joint effort between Arlington County and the JBM-HH community.”