Tag: arborist
Get To Know Honl Tree Care
A tree care company from a former Friends of Trees staff member!
Why is Honl Tree Care one of our favorite arborist partners? We go way back! Its founder, Chad Honl, was a Friends of Trees volunteer, then a Friends of Trees staff member managing our Neighborhood Trees program from 2000-2005. In fact, Chad was the very first ISA Certified Arborist on staff (now we have seven!).
“Friends of Trees really set me up,” Chad says. “I received so much guidance, and I’m thankful for all the volunteers that educated me.”
Chad’s contributions at Friends of Trees certainly helped us reach our 1,000,000 tree and native shrub milestone. The team was planting over 2000 trees each season while he was there. But his legacy goes beyond numbers. He also helped increase survival rates and worked with Portland Urban Forestry to expand the approved street tree list.
Chad left Friends of Trees to pursue a teaching career, but he found his way back to trees. What started as Chad doing tree care work with his wife’s pickup truck turned into Honl Tree Care in 2009. Now, Chad has a staff of nine certified arborists specializing in care and pruning. Quality tree care is so important for the health of our community forest, especially with environmental challenges like climate change and ice storms.
“Friends of Trees has created so many connections that have helped me grow my business,” Chad says. “And I could have grown more, but decided to focus on quality over quantity.”
“Chad has such an incredible legacy at Friends of Trees, and he continues to be an important part of the tree care community in Portland,” says Friends of Trees Executive Director Yashar Vasef. “We’re so grateful for his support and to call him a friend.”
Chad remains connected to Friends of Trees, and supported our Millionth Tree campaign as one of our partners. He loves trees, and he loves the connections people make while planting them.
“Friends of trees had made such a great impact,” Chad says. “You’ll find such good people and so much inspiration.”
Happy Earth Day & 75th Anniversary!
Friends of Trees congratulates Collier Arbor Care for taking care of trees in the Northwest for 75 years. The company’s public anniversary celebration will be on April 27, National Arbor Day.
This ad in the Living section of today’s Oregonian features Terrill Collier, his son Quentin, and their dog, Wizard.
“The trees we’re planting today will shade my family and others for generations to come. This is especially significant to us this year, as we celebrate 75 years of caring for trees in northwest communities.”
– Terrill Collier, Collier Arbor Care, Board Certified Master Arborist
Thank you, Collier Arbor Care and The Oregonian, for your generous support for Friends of Trees’ community tree-planting projects!
Crew leader & summer inspector featured in national Davey Tree Expert magazine
Friends of Trees volunteer Terry Brier, Portland district manager for the Davey Tree Expert Company, was featured in a recent issue of The Bulletin, a company magazine with a national circulation.
Friends of Trees appreciates Terry’s expertise and his dedication as a crew leader and summer inspector. We also appreciate the Davey Tree Expert Company’s contributions to the Portland-Vancouver area’s tree canopy. For example, the Davey Resource Group helped the City of Portland calculate the cost to residents of maintaining trees in planting strips as part of the city’s Grey to Green Initiative planning.
The story about Terry Brier is copied below. You can find it on page 19 of the spring issue of The Bulletin.
As a Davey employee and certified arborist, Terry Brier is naturally a friend of trees. But he also officially is one—a partner arborist of the Portland-Vancouver area nonprofit Friends of Trees, that is.
Friends of Trees was founded in 1989 to bring people in the region together to plant and care for city trees and green spaces. District manager for Davey’s Portland office, Brier joined Friends of Trees last year as a volunteer summer inspector and twice examined about 30 newly planted trees to make sure they were healthy and being properly watered, mulched and cared for. He also trained other summer inspectors and served as volunteer crew leader. He led planting crews at six plantings this season and continues to inspect trees this summer.
“It’s not just about putting trees in the ground. It’s about the community,” Brier said. “This group works to unite the people in the neighborhoods.”
Andy Meeks, Friends of Trees’ volunteer and outreach manager, said people like Brier help make Friends of Trees a better program. Last year alone, more than 2,100 volunteers from all walks of life pitched in, logging about 23,000 hours of time.
Friends of Trees has planted more than 400,000 trees and native plants. A recent Friends of Trees survey indicated 96.5 percent of neighborhood trees the organization planted during the 2009-10 season survived through the first critical summer after planting.
“Without our volunteers, we simply wouldn’t be able to do what we do. They’re vital to Friends of Trees,” Meeks said. “People like Terry who have the expertise really are our ambassadors because they are able to teach and share their knowledge. Having people like Terry who go the extra distance on planting day helps make it a great event. We couldn’t do it without our motivated volunteers.”
–The Bulletin