Hazard tree assessments: Developing a species profile for western hemlock

Abstract

Many new housing developments are moving into forests and the public and political pressures to retain trees are high. However, in the absence of good species profiles, hazard tree and tree retention assessments in such forests are fraught with problems. To overcome some of these, species profiles are being developed to assist arborists in knowing what is reasonable to retain and why, and to provide a more defensible basis to justify removal. The hemlock has been evaluated in detail. The findings reveal that external indicators are not sufficient to judge the internal condition of hemlocks. A preliminary species profile has been developed for the western hemlock and is now being refined.