Trees & Tree Commission - Laserfiche WebLink

New Search

Municipal Personnel and Contracted Services An urban forestry program can be divided into two functional areas: management and labor. In Eugene one person, the city arborist, performs management and supervision functions. His efforts are augmented by four tree trimers and occasional outside contractors. The program is located in the Parks Services Division. The city arborist, sometimes called tree manager or city forester in other cities, must be a qualified professional who understands both the management and technical aspects of urban forestry. This person's specific background may be forestry, horticulture, arboriculture, landscape architecture or some combination of these. As an administrator, the tree manager plans, organizes, supervises and budgets. Specific duties include inspecting or supervising tree work done by city staff or contractors, preparing work programs and budget estimates, enforcing city ordinances, responding to complaints, updating the tree inventory and management plan, and promoting public awareness of trees. Requiring the tree manager to perform labor functions reduces the effectiveness of the management function. The labor function covers the wide variety of skilled, semi - skilled, and unskilled maintenance work described under "Operational Activities." Specifically, urban forest labor involves such diverse tasks as watering, cleaning debris, pruning, handling chainsaws and operating aerial lifts. Obviously, greater skill is required to safely operate heavy equipment, and greater knowledge is necessary to properly determine the characteristics and requirements of different tree species. Most large cities have a portion of their work done by in -house crews because it assures that crews are available for emergencies and it is less expensive for some tasks. Some communities promote competition between in -house crews and contractors by bidding the same job to both. This tends to keep the contractors' hourly rates low and promote efficiency within the in -house crews. Some communities employ both contractors and staff for similar work, and find that the competition keeps everyone working at peak efficiency. The decision to use municipal staff, contractors or both for maintenance duties is often determined by the size of the urban forest, special need, and available funds. By eliminating unqualified bidders, carefully examining low bids, writing clear specifications and monitoring performance, tree managers can maximize the quality of contract work and keep costs comparable to that of in -house crews. Approximately one quarter of all cities and counties in the United States contract for tree maintenance.