HOW WE GOT STARTED...
For over 35 years Race Mountain Tree Services, Inc. has provided professional tree care to the landscapes of The Berkshires in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York.
Race Mountain Tree Services, Inc., originally Race Mountain Forest Services, was established in 1977. For 10 years Ron applied his forestry background to forestry consulting, working with private landowners to provide forestry services throughout the greater Berkshire region.
Through a natural evolution and love of trees Ron began studying the work of Dr. Alex Shigo, attending lectures and reading his books. By 1988 Race Mountain was more involved in tree care than forestry, and over the course of time the path to arboriculture became clear and Race Mountain Tree Services was born.
Over the next few years Ron continued his studies including classes at UMass under the direction of Dr. Dennis Ryan. In 1991 he became a Massachusetts Certified Arborist and a Connecticut Licensed Arborist.
In 1996 we incorporated with the goals of:
Providing a broad range of arboricultural services,
Involving family in business operations,
Leaving a legacy of high quality tree care,
Increasing the understanding and appreciation of trees among the public,
Sharing what we know and do with the community,
Providing a continuum of learning and growth for our employees.
We've gradually grown from a two person crew with a pick up truck to a team of 8 full time employees and some sweet additions to our equipment fleet.
We hope you consider us for all your tree and woody shrub needs and hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks,
Ron & the RMT team.
Our Team
Ron
PLANT HEALTH CARE MANAGER
With an educational background in Forestry, Ron brings applied science and 36 years of field experience to bear on his day-to-day work. He is a MA, NY & CT Certified Arborist & Registered Consulting Arborist and Tree Risk Assessment Qualified (TRAQ). He is a former member of the Massachusetts Arborists Association’s Certified Arborist Committee. He's taught Arboriculture to landscape design students at the Berkshire Botanical Garden and contributes time to the Sheffield Tree Project and the Berkshire County Arborists Day each November. He has served on the New England Grows Expo's Education Committee and is a current board member with the Sheffield Land Trust. He's had a life-long love affair with the natural world finding solace among the trees.
George
PLANT HEALTH CARE TECHNICIAN
George joined Race Mt. with 20 years of Plant Health Care experience and holds pesticide applicator licenses in MA, NY & CT. George is a committed team member who works alongside Ron managing our robust Plant Health Care program and is always recognizable by his warm smile & hearty handshake.
KIERAN
TREE CREW LEADER
Introduced to Arboriculture by birth, Kieran was climbing to 30' by age 12 and is therefore an expert climber. Kieran is a certified Arborist, has ArborMaster training, earned his Electrical Hazards Awareness Program status, and associated aerial rescue. He is also trained in First Aid and CPR, has a class A CDL license and is a licensed pesticide applicator in Massachusetts. He is our Certified Certified Treecare Safety Professional and schedule and runs all day-to-day operations of the work day.
Kieran serves on the board of the Massachusetts Arborists Association and has contributed time to Sheffield Tree Project, Berkshire County Arborists Day, St. Mary’s School Arbor Day and Indoor Lab, The Mount and more.
GAVIN
PHC & GROUND CREW
Gavin had an early start with trees & equipment. At a young age, enjoyed learning chain saw techniques and joined the team full time upon graduation in 2020. Gavin works on the tree crew as a chainsaw operator & ground crew and is pursuing additional trainings & certifications as he moves forward in Arboriculture. He obtained his MA pesticide applicators license in early 2023.
SEAMUS
Seamus joined us in the summer of 2023 with an energetic attitude about Tree care and the group work effort. He has been working with the Tree Crew to assist with removals, pruning and ground work and has brought an energetic prospective to our trainings.
ben pratt
Benjamin has been working with the Tree crew for almost a year, as of 2024, and has been expanding his experience in landscape care with us doing ground crew clean up & chipper operations. We look forward to him continuing to grow with us.
Zeus
Zeus is the company dog and mascot. He makes his daily walk around our base of operations to sniff out the Bears when they come for a visit and he performs daily inspections of employees vehicles for fellow pet smells. He is an occasional visitor to our offices and is very friendly. His favorite UPS man retired a few years ago and boy does he miss the treats.
COLE
Cole is an outdoor enthusiast who joined us in early 2023 with hopes of climbing to new heights in working with trees & wilderness. His youthful energy & enthusiasm for Tree work has been a welcome addition to the team. He is a current student at Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington.
LArISSA
OFFICE MANAGER
Larissa has been an employee with Race Mt. for 10+ years, on & off. Larissa returned from Boston in 2016 to help Kieran oversee day-to-day operations and manage the office operations. She can often be found with phone & coffee in hand bouncing between the office, site visits with Ron, and is the defacto geek squad for the company.