Urban Forestry Associates

What Urban Forestry Associates does

Urban Forestry Associates, Inc. (UFA) is a private, independent consulting arborist firm headquartered in Petaluma, California, with roots in the Marin, Sonoma, and Napa County region going back to its 1989 founding. The firm provides seven integrated arboricultural consulting services: arborist consultation and site visits, formal arborist reports for permit and development use, ISA TRAQ-compliant tree risk assessments, tree protection plans for construction projects, expert witness and forensic services, vegetation management plans (including wildfire fuel reduction), and tree and plant appraisals. UFA does not perform tree pruning or removal, which it uses as a structural independence argument: because the firm has no financial interest in tree service outcomes, its recommendations and expert testimony are positioned as unbiased. Customers fall into four roughly co-equal personas — residential property owners, attorneys and legal professionals, developers/architects/planners, and public agencies/municipalities — and engagements are delivered on-site across the North Bay and Bay Area, with expert witness work extending statewide and along the West Coast.

The firm's three named professionals — Ben Anderson, Zach Vought, and Ray Moritz — carry the credentials that define the offering: Board Certified Master Arborist (ISA), ISA Qualified Tree Risk Assessor, ASCA Registered Consulting Arborist (#686 and #691), and TPAQ appraisal qualification. Ray Moritz, with 50+ years of experience, co-founded Fire Safe Marin in 1992, is a featured speaker at ISA, ASCA, and Society of American Foresters events, and authored the San Francisco Chronicle's "Ask An Arborist" column. The firm's technical kit combines standard arboricultural practice (ISA TRAQ Levels I–III, TPAQ/Guide for Plant Appraisal methodology), physical inspection tools (resistograph for internal decay assessment), and ArcGIS for spatial analysis on planning engagements.

UFA generates revenue exclusively through professional services fees on a quote/unit basis, with initial consultations and site visits starting at $240 for up to one hour on-site plus travel, and customized pricing for reports, risk assessments, protection plans, appraisals, and expert witness work. Go-to-market is sales-led via direct inquiry through the company website's contact form, with the firm responding within a few business days. Marketing channels are limited to the company website, organic/SEO visibility, and ISA/ASCA professional credentialing; the firm does not advertise paid acquisition or outbound channels. There are no external investors, no funding history, and no headcount expansion signals — the firm operates as a small, founder-influenced professional practice that recently transitioned primary ownership following Ray Moritz's 2025 step-down to a part-time role.

Name

Urban Forestry Associates

Legal name

Urban Forestry Associates, Inc.

Website

https://urbanforestryassociates.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Urban Forestry Associates is an independent three-person consulting arborist firm serving homeowners, attorneys, developers, and municipalities across Marin, Sonoma, and Napa Counties with arborist reports, tree risk assessments, expert witness services, and tree protection plans.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Petaluma

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Professional consulting services including arborist consultations, site visits, arborist reports, tree risk assessments, tree protection plans, vegetation management plans, tree and plant appraisals, and expert witness services. Consultation and site visits typically begin at $240 for one hour on site plus travel time.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Urban Forestry Associates is an independent consulting arborist firm that performs tree assessments, prepares written arborist reports, conducts tree risk evaluations using ISA TRAQ methodology, develops tree protection and vegetation management plans, and provides expert witness services for legal matters. The firm intentionally performs no tree pruning or removal work, ensuring all recommendations are independent and not influenced by financial interest in tree-care outcomes. Services are delivered through on-site consultations and written deliverables to homeowners, attorneys, developers, architects, planners, and municipalities.

Product overview

Urban Forestry Associates is a consulting arborist firm providing independent, objective tree assessment and advisory services in Marin, Sonoma, and Napa Counties. The company operates as a unified consulting practice offering seven integrated service modules: Arborist Consultation and Site Visit (initial evaluation), Arborist Reports (formal documentation for permits and planning), Tree Risk Assessment (using ISA TRAQ methodology at three levels), Tree Protection Plans (construction impact mitigation), Expert Witness Services (legal case support and testimony), Vegetation Management Plans (fire safety and regulatory compliance), and Tree and Plant Appraisal (valuation for insurance and legal matters). Because the firm does not perform tree pruning or removal work, all recommendations are independent and not influenced by potential financial interest in tree work outcomes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 200 legal cases completed throughout California
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered notable, core and minor.

• Fire Safe MarinnotableStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1992Ray Moritz co-founded Fire Safe Marin and has taught fire hazard assessment and mitigation strategies to regional fire agencies since 1992. This partnership focuses on fire-related vegetation management and community safety.
• International Society of Arboriculture (ISA)coreOthersProfessional certification organization providing Certified Arborist and Tree Risk Assessment Qualification credentials. Staff maintains ISA certifications including Board Certified Master Arborist and ISA Qualified Tree Risk Assessor status.
• American Society of Consulting Arborists (ASCA)coreOthersProfessional organization for consulting arborists providing Registered Consulting Arborist credential. Staff includes RCA #686 (Ben Anderson) and RCA #691 (Zach Vought). Staff also has Tree and Plant Appraisal Qualification (TPAQ).
• Bartlett Tree FoundationminorOthersZach Vought received the Bartlett Tree Foundation scholarship while attending Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo.
• Cal Poly State University, San Luis ObispominorOthersBoth Ben Anderson and Zach Vought earned Bachelor of Science degrees in Forestry & Natural Resources Management from Cal Poly. Ben taught plant identification at Cal Poly after graduating. Zach participated in an on-campus tree planting program.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Bartlett Tree Experts: Bartlett Tree Experts is a large, national tree care company that also offers consulting arborist services through its Bartlett Tree Foundation and consulting division. Overlaps with UFA on tree risk assessment, arborist reports, and tree management planning, but is a broad incumbent that also performs pruning and removal.
• SavATree: SavATree is a large national tree, shrub, and lawn care company providing tree risk assessments, plant health care, and consulting services to residential and commercial clients. Comparable to UFA on consulting arborist work but as a broad incumbent with both assessment and tree work capabilities.
• Davey Tree Expert Company: Davey Tree is one of the largest North American tree care firms, offering utility vegetation management, residential and commercial tree care, and consulting arborist services. It is comparable to UFA on tree risk assessment and vegetation management plans, but at national scale and across a much broader service portfolio.

Emerging players

• ACRT Inc. ACRT is a vegetation management and environmental consulting firm serving utility clients, with overlap to UFA on vegetation management planning and arborist assessments for fire and utility contexts. It operates as a specialized consulting player in adjacent vegetation management services.

Direct peers

• J. Silvers Associates, Inc. J. Silvers Associates is a California-based consulting arborist firm providing tree risk assessments, expert witness testimony, and tree preservation plans across Northern California. It is a direct peer to UFA on consulting arborist services and expert witness work for legal matters.
• HortScience, Inc. HortScience is a California-based consulting firm providing arboricultural, horticultural, and landscape consulting services including tree inventories, risk assessments, and tree preservation plans. It is one of the closest direct competitors to UFA in Northern California consulting arborist work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/urban-forestry-associates-inc.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Urban Forestry Associates