[upbeat music]
- The techniques within tree climbing
have really developed a lot,
even since I've been an arborist.
[birds chirping] [chainsaw buzzing]
My name's Evan Slocum.
I own and operate Urban Tree Management,
a private tree care company.
I'm also the Board President of the Urban Tree Alliance.
[saw scratching]
Arboriculture is the management of individual trees.
As an arborist, that's primarily what I'm doing.
I'm meeting with people on private property.
We're looking at issues or conflicts.
And each property owner,
each person that has a yard with trees in it,
is managing those trees differently.
[ethereal music]
A lot of the work that we've done
has been in response to emerald ash borer.
It's really hitting Madison now.
I think this is the worst summer yet,
and we're seeing a lot of trees dying.
The options at our disposal are climbing a tree,
using the basket on the end of the boom with the crane,
or using the crane to remove the tree.
Sometimes a tree just isn't safe,
and that's a big part of what we do
as arborists in urban environments,
is managing safety, basically.
[chainsaw buzzing]
Removal of trees is a dirty business.
Certainly as a whole, our industry is known
as being a little rough around the edges.
I think that the way that I do things is fairly different.
So like the crane that I own, nobody has a crane like that.
Nobody in North America has ever built a crane like that.
[saw scratching] [gentle music]
Make some room for the crane. All right, there we go.
And so using that, yeah,
we can remove trees and work on trees
a lot more efficiently than other people can.
I always try to stay current with what's out there
and implement new things when I can.
I've noticed myself that the more I climb,
the better I get at it.
I can do more while being less tired.
[chainsaw buzzing]
I think I have an approach to tree care
which is a bit more hands-off.
The essence of it comes from
the value of trees in our urban areas.
Living in harmony with trees means to feel good
about the trees that are around you.