Both cities and citizens watch out for their trees, with some professional help
By Dick Dorworth
This is the second of a three-part series on the trees of the Wood River Valley.
When Jen Smith was a college student working in the woods as a forestry assistant, she worked with trees 90 percent of the time and with people 10 percent of the time. Today, Smith is the longtime director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Ketchum, a position that includes being city arborist. Now she works with trees 10 percent of the time and with people 90 percent of the time.
Smith says of her job, “I manage the city’s policies and procedures related to trees, both public and private, approve public tree removals, coordinate with the city’s communications team on education and outreach, manage the city’s tree inventory, make recommendations regarding planting public trees, offer expertise related to tree and vegetation planting for new private developments, manage the city’s Arbor Day celebration, and offer neighbor dispute assistance and consultation on behalf of the city.
“The city does not regulate private trees unless a pest issue or risk to the public exists, but I’m able to point people in the right direction if they need assistance. I often let folks know who the local commercial arborists are and what their specialties are for whatever reason. For example, if a resident has a concern about risk, I will let them know who holds the tree risk assessment certification locally.”
The City of Ketchum bids on a three-year rotation with ArborCare Resources, Inc., of Hailey, to be the city’s Plant Health Care contractor. Jeff Beacham, who has been a member of the Hailey Tree Committee since 2010 and served as its chairman since January 2016, has worked as a commercial arborist for ArborCare since 2003.
“I have been an International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist since 2005 and became ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualified in 2011,” Beacham said. “I am still a climbing arborist, but currently my main roles are general operations management, supervisor of our Integrated Pest Management programs for trees and turf, performing regular inspections of our Plant Health Care clients, and general sales.
“I spend the majority of my time in the field doing inspections and interacting with customers and two to 3three hours a day in the office making calls and dealing with scheduling and paperwork. From my perspective, plans and proactive inspections are the best form of management, but IPM programs are many times client-derived and based on their budget and aesthetic preferences.”
Beacham and the other members of the Hailey Tree Committee – Bill Josey, Tom Ward, Jeff Heinecke, Juerg Stauffacher and Matt Phillips – in 2013 compiled the first Wood River Valley Tree Guide. This guide is available on both the Ketchum and Hailey city websites and is consulted extensively by private property owners, businesses and local municipalities for guidance on, as it states in the introduction, “…helping you make better choices when preparing to select, plant and maintain trees.”