My forestry, ecology and environmental background began in 1976 when I converted 12 acres of depleted farmland to a park like setting. I worked with a variety of State agencies in land restoration and conservation including U.S. Forest Service for reforesting including planting over 700 trees; revitalizing an abandoned field to a meadow with naturalized plants and transition zones for insects, birds and animals in consultation with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Department; and installing a one acre pond with assistance from the Soil, Water & Conservation Program (USDA).

 

These fifteen years experience with land restoration, tree care and planting, organic gardening, and soil rebuilding gave me an understanding of the interfaces between forestry, arboriculture and urban forestry, a term barely defined at that time.

Since moving to San Francisco in 1989, I have refocused my work from rural and wilderness forest preservation to working on urban forest issues both with the City of San Francisco and in my day-to-day work as a Certified Arborist and aesthetic pruner. In the last three years, I have attended over 80 hours of seminars and symposiums as part of my continuing education. As a result of my formal education and experience, I am also a consulting arborist and focus on preservation reports to help clients maintain the health and vitality of trees when in conflict with construction or development, both on private and public rights of way. I also prune trees and shrubs under 20' and focus on ornamental pruning to bring out the natural habit of the plant. Because of my expertise in California natives, I was asked to write an article on pruning native trees and shrubs for the East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden journal.

 

As I review the course outline for “Arboriculture,” I find that I am well versed in every topic, not only from an academic perspective, but also from work experience. For instance, it is not just a matter of writing a preservation report for trees during development, but also being familiar with the community aspect of neighbors in conflict, dealing with planning commissions and passions people feel for saving their trees versus municipalities who must make updates to infrastructure. I often work with city arborists, tree workers and other specialists.