Elle Muriano

Aluminum tree tags  are affordable, simple to use, and don’t require other specialized tools.

Aluminum Tree Tags
- Flexible system if you have inconsistent or small numbers of trees that require tagging.
- No specialists’ tools or equipment needed
- Cost effective
These tree tags can be purchased in quantities of 100 or 1000. Here is an option for purchasing 100:
https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/p/79366/11861/round-numbered-aluminum-tags

This was the lowest price I could find. A few other forestry suppliers had prices very similar, just a couple bucks more. Options on Amazon were limited and weirdly much more expensive, at least last time I looked.

I'd recommend using the longest nails you can find without exceeding the diameter of the tag holes. One of the only issues with using aluminum tags is the potential for the tag to be pushed off or absorbed by the tree as it grows. When using long nails, you can have enough of the nail embedded in the tree for the tag to be secure, without having the nail fully flush with the tree and tag. When I learned how to tag trees, I was taught to always secure the tags with room to grow, like the second image (594). Of course, this might not last a tree's entire lifetime, but should get at least a decade (depending on tree species and how fast your trees grow). Tags can also be removed and reapplied if needed.

There's also systems like ARBOtag that might be worth looking into, since you're tagging so many. More automation, and they advertise being "the only tags that grow with the tree" (leaving room on your nails is equally effective, in my experience). Might be quicker and easier, if you're pressed for time. Also more expensive, and requires specific tools.  


       

Thanks for sharing! This is interesting stuff.

Was it difficult to find a class near you? Between education, testing, licensing, and insurance, what do initial costs look like overall? And once licensed, is this something that can be done as an individual private contractor, or will you work through an established agency?

Good luck on your exam!

Thank you both for the stepping stones here! I'll keep gathering information for now and hoard any questions until I have a few to ask. Stay warm!

I'm new to permies as a whole (just came across it today, through old forums posts while researching black locust durability for a project establishing a  platform bird feeder at my current work). I fell down the rabbit hole into everything so fast, and I've been feasting my eyes and brain since.

It didn't take long to read more into wheaton labs and come across information about bootcamp.

I'm a recent college graduate (BS in fish and wildlife management) who went to school in a rural mountain town taking classes on plant taxonomy, dendrology, and all things wildlife, now working my first full time 9-5 job as a naturalist educator. Most of my formal education was painfully lacking in how to connect and apply natural knowledge in the ways permaculture just is. This should be a dream, work I should enjoy in my field, steady pay, learning more about the Appalachians and sharing love for nature with others. Instead, most of what I'm learning is that I can't live like this , don't want to, and feel ingenuine trying.

I'm joyously aware that I don't know much, but I know I only wish to measure my life in lessons, experiences, and community. In relationships, with others and the land.
Bootcamp seems like a place to spend some time in.

That's a pretty longwinded way (I blame the rambling on just being oh-so inspired stumbling through this forum) of saying I'm interested in learning more about the bootcamp program and if it would actually be a good fit.

I will be leaving my job in march to through-hike the AT until august or september. My free time that's not spent preparing for the trail, is mostly spent dreaming of what I might do after.

I'm pretty broke now, and only gonna get broker while hiking, so I'm hesitant to drop $100 completely blind now without talking to anyone from wheaton labs about it. Of course, i could lurk for a year or so and then have this conversation, but I like longer-term plans and I want to understand if this is a serious option for me.