Oregon now wants a $20,000 bond to prune a tree

Licensing rules pulled in two directions this week, with Oregon adding cost to a tree license while Florida deleted one entirely. A roadside worker was killed in Marion County. And oak wilt turned up in a New York county that had never seen it.

The big one

Oregon and Florida spent the week going opposite directions on who gets to legally do tree work.

Oregon's Landscape Contractors Board put new surety bond minimums into effect on January 1, 2026. Standard licensed businesses now need a $20,000 bond. Probationary license holders need $15,000. That sits on top of the existing requirement for at least $500,000 in liability insurance. The rules cover landscape contracting that includes tree removal, guying, pruning and stump removal, and the LCB reiterated that tree work needs either its landscape contractor license (with an arborist phase tied to ISA certification) or a Construction Contractors Board license (Oregon LCB).

Broward County, Florida went the other way. As of July 1, 2025 the county no longer requires tree trimming contractors to hold a County Certificate of Competency, because state preemption under House Bill 735 wiped it out. Gone with it: the county's Extension training course and the requirement to pass an ISA or ASCA exam for local qualification. Tree companies in Broward now answer to state contractor licensing and whatever city codes still apply, and nothing else (Broward County Building Department).

For an established Oregon crew, a $20,000 bond is a nuisance cost, not a wall. It won't keep anyone honest out of the work. Florida's preemption is the bigger deal, and not in a good way. When the county credential disappears, the operator with a magnetic sign on a pickup competes for the same jobs on the same paperwork as a shop that trained and tested its people. State preemption keeps chewing through local tree ordinances, and this is one more county that lost the ability to set a floor.

The canopy

RTEC bought a plant health care shop in Maryland

RTEC Treecare has acquired Integrated Plant Care, a plant health care firm in Montgomery County, Maryland. RTEC says the deal strengthens its diagnostics and treatment work in the Washington, D.C. area (RTEC Treecare). Another PHC outfit folded into a bigger regional player.

OSHA hearings start August 19

The tree care operations proposed rule is still on OSHA's active agenda, sitting alongside the heat, emergency response and hazard communication rules. OSHA's laws-and-regulations page says informal public hearings begin August 19, 2026 for certain proposed rules (OSHA). No new tree-specific notice dropped this week, but the pipeline is moving.

St. Paul is set to vote this week

The St. Paul City Council is expected to vote on an ordinance requiring arborists to be brought in much earlier on city street reconstruction projects, and requiring planners to weigh design alternatives that keep mature trees standing (Tree and Neighbor Law Blog). If it passes, it means more consulting and construction-phase work on public infrastructure jobs in the city.

Safety report

A 42-year-old Micanopy, Florida man was killed on Monday, July 20 while cutting a fallen tree limb from the edge of County Road 329 near County Road 320 in northwestern Marion County. Around 4:20 p.m., troopers say a southbound sedan hit both the downed tree and the worker, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The 76-year-old driver had minor injuries. Traffic homicide investigators are still working the case. The man was clearing storm debris on a public roadway (352today). Roadside debris work puts you in a live traffic lane, often at the worst light of the day. Cones and a spotter are not optional there.

In Algonquin, Illinois, a 40-year-old man was airlifted to a hospital after a tree he was cutting down fell on him. The report is thin on details beyond the helicopter transport (CBS Chicago).

An 11-year-old Boy Scout from River Forest, Illinois died after a tree fell on him while he was walking a forest trail at the Owasippe Scout Reservation in western Michigan. The Muskegon County Sheriff's Office says he died of multiple injuries and is investigating (ABC News).

Pest and disease watch

Oak wilt reaches Monroe County, New York

A red oak in the town of Greece tested positive for oak wilt after a homeowner noticed leaves browning and dropping in mid-June. It's the first known case in Monroe County. The DEC says the fungus blocks water and nutrient flow and spreads through beetles drawn to fresh bark wounds or through connected root systems to nearby oaks. Oak wilt was first found in New York in 2008, with earlier cases in Ontario, Yates, Schenectady, Suffolk and Kings counties. Report suspected trees through the DEC form or the forest health hotline at 866-640-0652 (WXXI News).

Michigan finds its first elm zigzag sawfly

Michigan confirmed its first detection of elm zigzag sawfly in St. Clair County. An arborist reported it through the Midwest Invasive Species Information Network tool, and USDA APHIS confirmed the ID (Michigan EGLE). It's a defoliator of elms. Worth learning the zigzag feeding pattern on the leaf if you work elm.

Clemson redraws its Asian longhorned beetle line

Clemson is revising the ALB quarantine in Charleston and Dorchester counties, South Carolina, effective August 23. The area around Hollywood expands on new detections. The Mount Pleasant area shrinks after survey data showed eradication progress. As of July 10, crews had inspected more than 596,000 trees and found 13,140 infested (Clemson).

Minnesota's DNR grant program tied to emerald ash borer now has dates: Protect Community Forests Grants open August 3 and close September 14, with awards up to $150,000 out of a $1.7 million pool (Minnesota DNR).

Species spotlight

Cedar Elm (Ulmus crassifolia) is the most common elm across Texas and the south-central U.S., running 50 to 70 feet tall. The wood is hard, tough and interlocked, and it resists splitting, which makes for strong limbs on the rig. You'll know it by the small, stiff, sandpapery leaves and the corky-winged twigs. It also flowers in fall instead of spring, which is odd for an elm.

It shrugs off heat, drought and alkaline clay better than almost anything, so it holds up where other shade trees quit. It has some Dutch elm disease resistance but is not immune, so keep pruning to the dormant season to stay away from beetle activity. In the South it also picks up mistletoe. Scale insects show up too.

One for the lunch break

A content creator in Washington filmed himself climbing a protected tree in Olympic National Park during a photo shoot, and the internet did what it does. The clip includes a woman on camera telling him to get out of the tree. Viewers piled on over the stunt and park rules (The Nerd Stash). No harness, no plan, no idea. The one guy on your crew you'd never let up a tree, now with a ring light.

Stay safe out there,

The TreeNerd crew

On the board

A few openings from the TreeNerd job board:

• Climbing Arborist · Klätterapan AB · Täby, Stockholm, Sweden · Based on experience

Hiring? Post a role and reach the crews who read this.