Climb It High Tree Experts

The desert does a funny thing with trees.

It teaches them resilience. It teaches them how to grow fast when water appears, how to stretch toward the sun, and how to survive in places that seem impossible. But sometimes it also teaches them how to fail in spectacular ways.

Last week our crew at Climb It High Tree Experts was called out to Lo Lo Mai Springs in the Verde Valley for a high risk situation involving a large cottonwood tree. Nestled along Oak Creek, Lo Lo Mai Springs is a beautiful place where people come to camp, relax, and enjoy the shade of the riparian canopy.

And that shade usually comes from cottonwoods.

Cottonwood trees are iconic throughout Northern Arizona’s riparian areas. They grow quickly, thrive near water, and provide incredible shade and habitat along creeks and rivers. But their rapid growth and constant access to moisture can also make them prone to internal decay and structural weakness as they age.

That is where professional arboriculture and tree risk assessment become essential.

When we arrived on site, the first step was a professional tree risk assessment. Arborists do not just look at leaves and branches. We evaluate the entire tree system. The trunk structure, canopy weight, root conditions, and how the tree interacts with the environment around it.

From the outside, a tree can look completely healthy.

Green canopy. Full leaves. Standing tall.

But trees are living biological systems. Inside the trunk, structural wood can begin to break down from decay fungi, moisture buildup, or past damage. When this happens, the tree may no longer be able to support the weight of its own canopy.

This particular cottonwood showed several warning signs of structural compromise. Its location made the situation even more critical. The tree stood directly over an area with constant foot traffic from campers and visitors, which significantly increased the risk level.

In arboriculture, risk is evaluated by looking at three things. The likelihood of failure. The size of the part that could fail. And the potential target below it.

At a busy campground like Lo Lo Mai Springs, the target is almost always present.

Based on our professional assessment, the safest and most responsible decision was immediate tree removal.

At Climb It High Tree Experts, removals are never our first goal. Our work is rooted in science based arboriculture, which means preserving trees whenever possible. But when a tree becomes a serious hazard to people or property, removal becomes the responsible choice.

High risk tree removals require careful planning and technical climbing skills. When a tree is structurally compromised, climbers cannot trust the wood the same way they would in a healthy tree. Every cut must be calculated, every rigging point carefully selected, and every piece of wood controlled as it is lowered safely to the ground.

The crew moves like a system.

Which is fitting, because trees themselves are living systems.

That idea is exactly what we are beginning to explore in our new educational series on the Climb It High Tree Experts YouTube channel. Trees are not just landscape features. They are complex biological systems interacting with soil, water, fungi, insects, and the environment around them.

Understanding those systems is what allows arborists to properly care for trees, assess risk, and protect both trees and people.

Our goal with this series is to help the Verde Valley community better understand tree biology, arboriculture, and the science behind professional tree care.

Because when people understand how trees actually work, they can make better decisions about caring for them.

If you live in the Verde Valley or Northern Arizona and have questions about the health or safety of a tree on your property, a professional arborist tree risk assessment can provide valuable insight before small issues become major hazards.

Trees are remarkable living systems.

And when we take the time to understand them, we can care for them the right way.

Written by:

Serena