Healthy Trees Add Beauty, Value To Resorts, Public Spaces

Healthy Trees Add Beauty, Value To Resorts, Public Spaces

By Tim A. Johnson

For all the beauty and character that trees lend to a hotel, resort or other public space, they also can cause great concern and potential liability when their condition becomes questionable.

Preemptively chopping down healthy trees, however, is not the best solution to managing this risk. Trees not only enhance the charm and appeal of a resort property, but they also provide shade, help to reduce energy costs, increase landscape value, and attract birds and other wildlife.

Risk managers face the responsibility and challenge of reducing the risk of aging or diseased trees injuring people or damaging property. Reducing tree hazards is not just a smart way to minimize a company’s accident claims and exposure to legal liability, it’s an essential duty in creating a safe and welcoming atmosphere for guests and patrons.

Finding the right balance in tree management is made more complex when considering the legal risks, which can prove substantial in cases related to tree maintenance. Several courts around the country have held owners responsible for personal injury or property damage when they knew of—or should have known of—the potential for tree hazards on their property.

A Registered Consulting Arborist can help risk managers sort out the risks and make sound decisions about an organization’s trees. These authoritative experts on tree care issues undergo intensive training and skills development to earn their professional designation. By conducting a comprehensive tree risk assessment, an RCA will identify potential tree hazards and offer recommendations for corrective action.

The RCA can assess existing tree defects and forecast the possible chances of tree failure and the threat to public safety. In most cases, visual examination is enough to provide a good review of tree health and viability. The tree is checked for defects at its roots, trunk, branches and leaves.

In a high-risk situation, or one where defects are suspected but not readily identified, an in-depth tree assessment may be conducted using specialized tools and techniques.

Typically, the risk assessment includes a ranking of the assessed trees on the property ranging from low- to high-risk. The highest risk trees are those at imminent risk of failure.

If a serious tree hazard is identified, immediate removal is warranted to avoid danger to people who come in close proximity to the tree. If there is any question, the safety of guests and employees is always top priority.

Trees that could present a hazard in the future also are identified and should receive prompt attention.

When no immediate danger is posed, tree defects can be taken care of through corrective maintenance, such as pruning of branches. If an aging tree is of special historical or landscaping value, it can be cabled or braced to help it remain standing.

Other recommended maintenance may include watering, mulching and pest control, all with the goal of producing stronger, more sustainable trees while improving public safety.

Early detection and correction of tree defects not only reduces tree hazards, but decreases maintenance costs. A healthy tree population means less pruning, removal and replanting.

Without question, even a trained expert cannot always predict whether a tree will fail or continue to grow and thrive. Extreme weather conditions, such as strong winds or a heavy ice or snowstorm, can cause tree failure.

In addition, even the most thorough assessment may not uncover internal defects in a tree with a healthy and structurally sound appearance.

Nonetheless, with training and experience in arboriculture, the failure of limbs or entire trees often can be predicted, detected and prevented.

Beyond tree risk assessment, RCAs can provide other useful tree services, including comprehensive tree management plans, complete with planting and pruning programs.

Monitoring new plantings or young trees can provide an early opportunity to shape trees to prevent problems from the outset.

Tree value appraisals and expert legal testimony in cases regarding tree issues can also be obtained.

What’s more, an RCA can train grounds-keeping or landscaping staff to detect and correct common tree hazards and properly conduct standard maintenance, such as lawn mowing, around trees without wounding them at the base.

Like an actual forest, trees on a property are always changing, due to storm damage, disease or simple aging. With the suddenness of a strike of lighting, a once harmless tree can become a hazard.

Before an organization removes trees that grace an entrance or shade the grounds, consider obtaining a professional tree risk assessment to evaluate and correct possible tree hazards.

Payoffs include healthier, longer-living trees, lower landscaping costs, and, most importantly, fewer tree-related accidents and injuries resulting in reduced risks, claims and liability.

The ultimate benefit is that a property’s guests will enjoy a safer, greener environment for relaxation and recreation.

Tim A. Johnson, a Registered Consulting Arborist, is vice president of the American Society of Consulting Arborists (www.asca-consultants.org).

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, October 3, 2003. Copyright © 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.

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