Fred Mason

Co-Owner & Arborist

Fred began his outdoor career caring for trees after attending Unity College in Unity, Maine. He worked for the Forest Service in Michigan where he first ran a chain saw conducting trail maintenance and backcountry road maintenance. After that, he worked on the Eldorado National Forest in CA as a Wilderness Ranger where he used crosscut saws as well as chainsaw for trail, road and fire management. His next adventure was as a Backcountry Ski Ranger at Sequoia National Park in CA where he was responsible for maintaining snow mobile access to Mineral King District in addition to safety patrols and snow surveys. Afterwards, he moved to Tuscon, AZ to work on the Coronado National Forest on an interdisciplinary crew performing a wide range of natural resource management duties including fire, trail construction, road maintenance and construction as well as heavy equipment operations. After two years in AZ, he spent the next six years working on fire rescue helicopters in CA and WY at Sequoia Kings Canyon National Parks and Grand Teton National Park. Prior to venturing out with Birch Tree Arborist and Fire Mitigation, LLC full time, he worked in fire management at Yosemite National Park and Acadia National Park.

While completing the two-year Arborist Training Program with the Olmstead Center for Landscape Preservation, he became even more interested in trees and tree health. In this program, he focused on tree preservation when appropriate vs solely removal as a priority. Towards the end of the program, he independently took the ISA (International Society of Arboriculture) exam to become a certified arborist. This certification is an additional level of professionalism and tree care knowledge that is internationally recognized, but not required. Along with his ISA certification, Fred has his Maine First Class Landscape and Utility Arborist License, which required a successful exam completion, as did the ISA certification. A Maine license is required by the state of Maine. Fred also maintains a professional affiliation with ISA, separate from his certification, as well as TCIA (Tree Care Industry of America).

Fred enjoys providing a holistic view to land management while preserving a microenvironment for each individual property or tree. Educating and empowering people on tree care for long-term sustainability is a passion for him. His goal is to work with clients in a collaborative manner that will provide the best care for a landscape and suitability for the owner, their budget and objectives.

Arborist Training Program

The Arborist Training Program provides a field-based educational opportunity for National Park Service landscape maintenance employees to develop specialized skills in sustainable tree care. The program is designed to provide career development while building the capacity of parks and historic properties to maintain and preserve important landscapes. The curricula consists of phases that progress in complexity over a period of time. The Arborist Training Program includes:

  • Classroom sessions that cover the scientific principles of arboriculture to introduce participants to tree biology, soil management, diagnostics, integrated pest management, tree nutrition, and fertilization
  • Field training projects that teach participants about climbing techniques, pruning, tree identification, equipment operation and safety, cabling, lightning protection systems, and pest identification
  • Home study assignments that reinforce both classroom and field training programs through reading and self-evaluation
Melissa Boyd