Tree care can be complex when you aren’t sure what you’re looking for and who to call for the right services. Many landowners struggle to choose between foresters, arborists, and loggers to meet their harvesting needs. Here’s everything you need to know to differentiate between them.

Arborists

Arborists are individuals whose job is to take the best possible care of individual trees. In other words, an arborist is a person who knows the ins and outs of optimal tree care. With the substantial knowledge they have about a tree’s anatomy and its biological requirements for growth, an arborist strategizes the most viable ways to maintain tree health and ensure their well-being.

Like every profession, arborists have different levels of qualification, experience, and specialization. Becoming a trusted arborist requires the right education and certification to serve landowners and people looking for the best care for their trees.

Services Arborists Provide

Now that we know who an arborist is and what their role includes, here are some of the services they specialize in:

Pruning

If an arborist detects that a tree’s overall health is deteriorating, they might conduct an extensive pruning service on that tree. This service enhances a tree’s health and overall appearance. 

Tree Removal

When a tree is dying, it can become a lost cause to the landowner. This is when arborist services come in handy. They offer tree removal in various circumstances, such as tree deterioration. An arborist may also remove a tree when it’s becoming a risk, hindering other trees, or obstructing new construction in the area.

Emergency Tree Care

Sometimes pruning or removing a tree is risky, especially when it’s damaged. An arborist plays a critical role in helping during this process by offering emergency tree services without putting people or properties at risk.

Planting Trees

Using their knowledge about tree health and growth, arborists plant new trees and recommend the right species of trees according to the location and climatic conditions.

Foresters

Unlike arborists, the role of foresters is significantly more expansive. If you look at the services offered by the leading forest management companies around you, you’ll see that foresters are engaged in a wide range of services. These are mostly associated with restoring ecological areas, harvesting timber, and regularly managing woodlands.

A forester’s role also includes supervising and monitoring harvesting operations in forests. This includes but is not limited to extracting raw materials, investing in outdoor recreation, creating forest management plans, and more. 

The Services they Provide

Creating Timber Harvest Plans

Foresters often serve the role of consultants by working with landowners to create THPs or Timber Harvest Plans. This service aims to ensure that the landowner gets the best price for the timber they’re selling, and that the harvesting plan continues to benefit the woodland.

Making Forest Management Plans

They also provide their assistance to landowners looking to create forest management plans by identifying their harvesting objectives and ensuring they take the right steps.

Loggers

Loggers cut down trees to turn them into logs and load them onto transporting vehicles to complete transactions. Loggers often work under foresters and forest management companies by cutting the trees marked by the landowner or foresters. They play an essential role in completing deals like timber sales.

Choosing between an Arborist, Forester, and Logger

Many people confuse the roles of an arborist, forester, and logger due to their affiliation with tree and plant-related services and expertise. Now that you know the difference between them, you have a better understanding of who to pick for your tree care needs.

If you need a reliable, professional Forester for your harvest project, consider Tall Pines Forest Management.  We’re one of the best forest management companies in Maine and have helped organize and manage many harvest operations with our harvest operation oversight services. We offer a wide range of forest management services in Maine, such as timber appraisals, forest management plans, and even consulting on tax management plans and Carbon offsets.  Give us a call today to learn more.