Former New York Times cartographer Tim Wallace describes how his current firm, Santa Fe-based Descartes Labs, has built a machine learning model to identify tree canopy from satellite imagery thus making accurate mapping of trees and urban forests far more accessible to cities worldwide. "The ability to map tree canopy at a such a high resolution in areas that can't be easily reached on foot would be helpful for utility companies to pinpoint encroachment issues--or for municipalities to find possible trouble spots beyond their official tree census (if they even have one)," writes Wallace. For example, unexpected tree deserts can be identified and neighborhoods that would most benefit from a surge of saplings revealed."