Arborists – Fell Trees, Harvest Logs

Arboristsremove community trees as merchantable logs.

City crews in Evanston take down an infested ash tree. Photo by Philip Haywood

To harvest community trees for their timber value, arborists need, first, to determine what trees have wood that could be valuable timber and, then, to remove those trees in such a way as to preserve their value. Trees need to be brought down with in longer sections, typically at least 8’ long, but most municipal removal operations and equipment are now designed to manage shorter sections. The Wood Utilization Team is addressing this issue through education and training. More than 400 individuals stopped by the Team’s display at the Illinois Arborist Association (IAA) conference in 2008 and 2009.

● For arborists and urban foresters

To teach urban foresters how to remove trees in ways that preserve their timber value, the Wood Utilization Team sponsors Urban Timber Harvesting for Hardwood Lumber Utilization and Recovery (UTiH2LzR) training sessions and outreach in coordination with the Illinois Arborist Association.

● For municipal managers

To teach municipal managers how to grade trees and logs for timber value, negotiate removal contracts, and market urban and community wood, the Wood Utilization Team sponsors Municipal Managers Urban Timber Harvesting for Hardwood Lumber Utilization and Recovery (M2 UTiH2LzR) training sessions and outreach in coordination with the Illinois Arborist Association (IAA). Last M2UTiH2LzR Training, was hosted by the City of Elmhurst on November 13, 2009.

The Wood Utilization Team also sponsored an undergraduate class, Environmental & Urban Wood Reclamation, at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) to evaluate the potential uses and benefits of wood harvested or reclaimed from the Illinois municipalities of Evanston, Wilmette, and Oak Park. Their findings are summarized in their final report. Graduate students at the IIT's Institute of Design explored opportunities in Chicago's urban forest. Their very creative thinking is summarized in their final report.

For the wood that isn’t lumber quality . . .

The trees that, due to disease, growth patterns, and other factors, do not have marketable timber can be removed with conventional methods in much shorter sections. These trees and the branches of trees with merchantable logs can be used for firewood, mulch, bio-fuel and other uses. Biomass energy is a renewable alternative to fossil fuels. Robbins Community Power obtained an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permit to convert an incinerator to use wood waste to generate electricity.