Trees are important and provide us with many benefits on which we rely. Trees can, however, pose a risk to people and property. It is important that we assess their risk to protect public safety. Determining a tree's risk incluldes assessing its potential for faliure, the size of the failure, the probability of impact on a target and the value of the target. The resources below can help you learn the common defects associated with tree risks, and how to develop a plan to limit your community's risk to tree failure and its potential impact.

Urban Tree Risk Management: A Community Guide to Program Design and Implementation This manual was designed to preserve public safety and improve the health of urban forests. It does so by assisting communities in the design, adoption, and implementation of a tree risk management program. It also aids in training field staff to detect, assess, and correct hazardous defects in urban trees.

How to Recognize Hazardous Tree Defects "created to help home owners and land managers in recognizing hazardous defects in trees and to suggest possible corrective actions."

Hazard Trees Provides information on the hazards posed by trees. Defects in roots, trunk, or branches make trees likely to fail, potentially causing personal injury or property damage. You will find information and publications on hazard trees, that we have developed, as well as links to other sources of hazard tree information.