In light of the nationwide concerns about COVID-19, please rest assured that our company is taking measures to protect our workers from exposure. We are putting fewer workers in each vehicle, advising workers to ride with the windows down, to disinfect their tools often, to avoid physical contact and to increase our social distance. Additionally, all employees are focusing on our own sanitation practices as well as closely monitoring our own health. We are considered an exempt business.
EXEMPTION FROM SHELTER-IN-PLACE:
Boutte Tree – Providing “essential tree services” during the COVID-19 Pandemic
3/26/2020
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous federal, state, and local health or business closure orders have exempted essential services from adhering to shelter-in-place in the interest of public safety. By removing hazards, such as trees that may fall on houses, businesses, or infrastructure, tree care companies play a vital role in keeping our communities safe. Additionally, tree service companies provide protection against the spread of invasive and/or injurious pests.
Tree service items identified as essential activities include, but are not limited to:
• Hazard tree removal or removal or a dangerous tree
• Pruning of dead, dying, or dangerous limbs
• Treatment for invasive insects which if left untreated would rapidly destroy a tree causing a hazard
• Utility line clearance
• Road safety clearance
• Cabling or bracing a hazardous tree
• Mitigating storm damage
• Emergency response readiness
• Treatment for ticks and mosquitos or other public health treatments
• Removal of fire damaged or fuel trees in a fire hazard area
• Assessment of hazard trees or pest issues for the purposes of removal or treatment as described above
The threat of invasive and injurious pests cannot be understated. These include the spotted lantern fly, emerald ash borer, and numerous others. Spring is the time tree services need to be out in the field treating for invasive pests, or the public health will be adversely impacted. These pests also have the potential to cost our country billions of dollars in damage, so being in the field and mitigating these risks is crucial, even in times of emergency. Tree services often treat for ticks as well, and if left unabated, the spread of Lyme Disease could pose a danger to communities across the country.
https://www.tcia.org/TCIAPdfs/TCIA-ISA-Joint-Statement-of-Essential-Services.pdf