Table of contents

With the emergence of urban and community forestry as the fastest growing part of our pro fession in the last 15 years, the need for a book such as this inevitably developed. The So ciety of American Foresters' urban forestry working group counts 32 or more universities now offering courses in this subject, and the number is growing. For the last several years I have coordinated a continuing education urban forestry course at Rutgers for nonmatriculated students. Registrants have included arborists, shade tree commissioners, landscape architects, city foresters, environmental commissioners, park superintendents, and others whose jobs involve care and management of trees. The course was started by Bob Tate in 1980, around a core of managerial subjects such as in ventories, budgets, and public relations. After Bob left in 1984 to join Asplundh and later to start his own prosperous business in California, the course languished after it exhausted the local market for those subjects.

To Fell a Tree was written for the professional tree cutter as well as the weekend woodcutter. It's loaded with practical information that is essential to the safety and success of any tree felling and woodcutting operation, whether it's in the forest or the backyard. With step-by-step methods and more than 200 illustrations, topics include preparations before the work begins, felling a tree using a three-step procedure, felling difficult trees, and limbing and bucking the tree.--COVER.