Meeting:

April 9, 2009

Guest Presenter:

Jan C. Scow

Tree expert and Certified Arborist

Program:

L.A.’s Tree Protection Ordinance: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Remember how excited we were to hear that the City of Los Angeles had upgraded its tree protection ordinance? Jan Scow, Registered Consulting Arborist, talked about his experiences with the new statute – the good, the bad, and the ugly of mandated native tree preservation in the nation’s second largest city.

Raised in the central valley of California, Jan worked for many years as a nurseryman, landscape contractor, tree pruner and landscape gardener. During that time, he learned a great deal about the region’s traditional horticulture. A move in the early 1990’s enabled him to get a degree in environmental studies and establish a practice as a consulting arborist in the Los Angeles area.

Jan is a licensed landscape contractor, an Advanced California Certified Nursery Professional and a Certified Arborist. He attended the Academy of the American Society of Consulting Arborists in 1998, has been a Registered Consulting Arborist since 1999 and a Certified Urban Forester since 2004. He’s a past Director of the California Urban Forests Council and an active member of the California Native Plant Society, the California Oak Foundation and the Sierra Club.

Jan’s work as a consultant has involved him a in wide variety of projects including erosion control and fire risk reduction using native plants, oak tree preservation, and native plant landscape design. His practice is focused primarily on tree preservation with an emphasis on native trees. He is currently expanding his business to include sustainable gardening, drought tolerant landscape designs and environmentally friendly horticulture.