By Nancy A. Bergeron
Journal Correspondent

• Ruston LA

Claire Moxley sees the forest and the trees. As city forester for Ruston, Moxley is one of an increasing number of foresters who spend their days caring for and managing trees in urban settings.

Moxley, 28, is an urban forester, "which to me is almost a kind of oxymoron."

"In these parts, a forester is in the woods," she says with a smile.

"I never would have dreamed I would be dealing with tree roots and sewer lines," said Moxley, who joined the Ruston Light & Power staff in 2001 as the city's first vegetation management specialist.

Over the succeeding four years, her job has evolved from tree-trimming aimed solely at protecting power lines, to working with city planners, school children, civic groups and individuals with tree questions.

Urban forestry looks at aesthetics of trees in municipal settings as well as practicality. For example, water may not be readily available in some locations, while in others, runoff may be more than other species can bear. Planters may limit root space. And there are always power line and line-of-sight issues, Moxley said.

"If you're planting a new tree, you have to consider where you are placing it, and what it will look like in 10 to 20 years," she said. "It's not just the aesthetics and the beauty. You have to be aware of the environment."

"In an urban area, trees are under stress on a daily basis," she said.

Moxley, from Hammond, La., knew since childhood that she wanted to be a forester. Her love for the outdoors was honed by numerous family camping trips.

"I think I thought I was going to be Smokey the Bear," she said.

In 1999, Moxley graduated from Louisiana Tech with a bachelor's degree in forestry and went to work for Jackson, Miss.-based DeViney/Magnolia Construction. Meantime, in Ruston, a new mayoral administration came into office, and Zack Spivey was named city light and power director.

Spivey, who had been the city's utility chief from 1983-1991, knew tree-trimming along city rights-of-way was a major need. Trimming to protect power lines generally was reactive - when a fallen limb broke a line, crews responded.\par }{\plain Spivey wanted pro-active.

"If you just let things happen, it's going to degenerate. If you have somebody looking after it, you stay on top of it," he said.

He'd seen urban forestry work elsewhere and figured it could in Ruston, too.

Moxley, he says, has done an "outstanding job."

As proof, Spivey points to Ruston's decrease in tree-caused power outages, and a drop in the duration of outages that do occur. From 2003 to 2004, the number of tree-caused outages dropped by 20, from 79 to 59.

So far this year, the city has had only 26 tree-caused outages. The length of outages has been cut by slightly over half - from close to three hours to less than 90 minutes.

"Tree trimming is a big part of that," Spivey said.

Moxley's 10-man contract tree-trimming crew has just finished its first round of the city. It's taken 18 months. It's also the first time trees in the city right-of-way have ever been systematically maintained. The city doesn't trim on private property.

Spivey remembers his first official supervisor-to-employee conversation with Moxley.

"I told her I wanted her to manage our tree trimming," he said. "I told her I thought it was important for us to have a good image and that I wanted us to be a Tree Line City."

Under Moxley's guidance, Ruston earned the Tree Line City designation in 2003. The program, sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation, recognizes cities that meet three requirements: a program of quality tree care, annual worker training in quality tree-care practices, and a tree-planting and public education program. Ruston has also earned the foundation's Tree City USA designation.

Moxley refers to Ruston as an "urban island." Even with booming residential development, the city still has a good tree canopy, she said.

"Ruston is unique," she said. "You don't find many towns that have such a thick canopy."

Moxley said a natural tension exists between trying to maintain the tree-lined streets that lend Ruston must of its character and growth.

"It's a real balancing act," she said. "Every situation is different. You accommodate for the area, as well as the utilities."

And sometimes a tree has to come down. Moxley tries not to remove a tree unless it's diseased, dead or a hazard. The city attempts to replace every tree that's taken down.

Both Moxley and Spivey said a significant part of Moxley's job is public relations.

"People are attached to their trees," Moxley said.

But she believes the tinge of public skepticism she encountered at first has changed. Ruston resident Marie Riggs agrees.

"I did hear some negative at first," Riggs said, "but now the neighbors she works with really do like her. If (the city) has to cut down a tree in the right of way, she'll come plant something else."

"I think (having an urban forester) is a very good thing," Riggs said. "It's worked out well."

"People are now glad somebody is trying to protect the trees," Moxley said.

The telephone in Moxley's small office rings.

"Let me come out and there and look at that before you do anything," she says into the receiver.

"I always tell people to call me first," she says. "Even (if the tree is not in the city right-of-way), I'll give them advice."

Soon Moxley is behind the wheel of her small, city-owned pick-up, headed to check on a trimming crew near downtown Ruston, then to a residence in the southeastern part of the city where a limb is brushing what turned out to be a telephone wire, and then across town to assess a stump removal.

"I never would have dreamed I would do something like this," she said, "but this has become my passion."

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