What does that mean?

• Tree hazard mitigation means reducing the potential of trees to hurt people, damage property, and waste money.
• Hazard trees can hurt the community at any time, but the biggest losses come with storm damage due to wind, ice, or flooding.

How do you do it?

     You mitigate hazards by managing old and new trees with practices that are

• based on reliable and recent research, and
• designed to minimize costs and risks.

•      Write and enforce a tree ordinance
•      Conduct a tree inventory
•      Have experts identify hazard potential
•      Prune properly and at correct time
•      Eliminate hazards before disasters strike
•      Set up regular maintenance regime
•      Avoid root damage during construction

•      Identify and analyze planting sites
•      Select recommended species suitable to site 
•      Purchase quality street trees
•      Plant correctly, especially the depth
•      Minimize injury to young trunk
•      Mulch roots out to dripline
•      Establish early training schedule

•      Communities that manage their forests on a routine basis tend to have less storm damage.
•      The 1995 microburst in northern New York felled hundreds of thousands of trees and killed 6 persons.
•      The 1998 icestorm in New England had the worst impact on roads whose margins had not been maintained.
•      A northeastern city  lost a tree-negligence lawsuit for $1.2 million in the 1990s.

For other information, advice and help on this topic, call offices of your State Urban Forestry Coordinator or University Extension service,or  visit urban forestry web sites.