Background
The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages forests, water, wildlands and other natural resources across Washington state. In collaboration with Nathan Waldren, Forest Inventory Operations Manager, the DNR conducts large-scale forest inventory operations to monitor forest health, measure sustainable harvests and preserve ecological balance.
Challenge
Each year, the DNR collects 1,000-2,000 tree cores from across the state to analyze growth rates, climate impact, wildfire history and long-term forest health. With over 10,000 cores in storage, proper labeling and archiving are critical to ensuring the long-term value of this data for research, policy and conservation.
The DNR faced significant difficulties in labeling and archiving tree cores. Handwritten labels were prone to error, smudging and fading. This introduced the risk of misidentification. Thermal paper labels provided a short-term solution but quickly degraded when exposed to weather, moisture and handling. As Waldren explained, “The barcode idea was going to work, but these thermal transfer labels weren’t.”
The department required a durable, archival-quality labeling system that could withstand rain, snow and seasonal extremes while adhering securely to a variety of materials that included wood, plastic straws and paper straws. It also needed to support a large and growing archive of more than 10,000 samples while providing a scalable system for unique identification that would remain reliable and accessible over decades.
Solution
After testing homemade barcodes and thermal labels, Waldren turned to Metalcraft for a professional, industrial-scale solution. He selected Metalcraft’s Barcode Cable Labels, which provided the right size, adhesion and environmental durability for tree core samples. The labels adhere to the material in which the core is encased and then wrap around and adhere to itself, thereby further protecting the barcode from weathering, fading and adhesive failure.
Metalcraft also demonstrated custom flexibility by adapting tail lengths and printing specifications to fit the DNR’s unique requirements. According to Waldren, the labels’ durability and Metalcraft’s ability to customize were key points. “The quality of the labels themselves is stellar,” he said. “Being able to meet our weird needs is fantastic because what we do is so specific.”
Result
The DNR is now actively labeling both new and legacy cores with Metalcraft’s Barcode Cable Labels. This initiative has significantly reduced errors by eliminating issues such as smudged handwriting and degraded labels. It has also improved archive integrity by ensuring samples are organized alphabetically and preserved for long-term use. As a result, the collection is now research-ready, supporting not only forest inventory but also dendrochronology, climate change studies and ecological monitoring.
Looking ahead, the DNR hopes to expand the archive further by incorporating additional collections and eventually generating QR codes to make the data even more accessible for future users.